First Annual Report of the Geological Survey of the State of NJ

FIRST ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

t; (Id/;t a¢ "

OF THg / ' j STATE OF NEWJERSEY,

\ _ ]FOR THE YEAR 1854.

NEW BRUNSWICK :

PRINTED AT THE FREDONIAN OFFICE.

1855.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.

To his ]_'xeelleneg, .Rodman a)(. Price_ Gorernor of the Stat6 of _'ew Jersey: SII_:--Havieg been honored by you with the charge of superintending the geological survey of this State, I beg leave herewith to submit the following reports_ for the consideration of the Legislature, of the pro_ess of the survey for the past year. These reports embrace, generally, an account of the plan which has been adopted in prosecuting the work, and some of the results which have an important economical application to agriculture_ mining, &e.,it being deemed advisable, at this early period, to abstain from any details or theoretical considerations, leaving them to their more appropriate place in the final minute and systematic report.

GENERALREMARKS.

The object of the survey is to lay before the people of this State as much practical and available information as possible, respecting its natural resources and advantages. The investigations necessary to the accomplishment of this object, are embraced under the following heads : 1. To determine the different varieties of rocks, and their relative position.

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2. Their thickness and geographical range. 8. Their mineral and pala_ontological contents. 4. Their lithological and chemical character. 5. Their application to agriculture, mining, architecture, &c. 6. Their topographical features. The discovery of valuable mineral substances; the establishment of principles which will serve as unerring guides to their discovery and extent ; and the utter uselessness of scarchifig for them, except in particular geological formations ; the deri- vation, composition and character of soils; their means of improvement and adaptation to particular plants; the plotting and construction of public works, such as railroads, canals, &e. ; architecture ; great internal improvbments ; determining the availability of water courses; establishing the most economical plans for drainage--thus rendering unhealthy districts, healthy and unproductive lands fertile; mining; and almost every branch of the arts and manufactures are included in the above investigations. In order to arrive at the most reliable and thorough re- salts, demanded by such investigations) researches in the following departments of practical science are required : . Topographical Engineering. Geology. Pal_eontelogy. Chemistry and Mineralogy.

TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERING.

Topogra2Mcal and Geographical Ma2s--Seclfons.

The topographical or physical features of a country depend on its geological formations. Wherever there is a change in the underlying rocks, there is a corresponding change on the surface, indicating the extent and limits of each formation) and serving as guides to the explorer. The varied aspect of a country, its mountain scenery, hills and dales, plains, water-

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY falls and courses, all depend, to a greater or less extent, on the change from one formation of rock to another. In making a geological examination of a country, one of the first objects to be accomplished is t9 represent) on a topographical map, the precise locations and boundaries of the different formations of reeks ; also to draw vertical and horizontal sections and profiles of the surface configurations, which will show the order of superposition of the strata and layers of rocks, and their thick- hess. Hence the importance, in all minute and detailed geological investigations(of an accurate representation of the tope- graphical features of n country. Without this it is totally impossible to describe its orographical structure. It is to be regretted that, of the many geological surveys of the different States of the Union, none have been prceeded by an accurate topographical map. England, France, and. some countries of the Continent, understanding its importance, have conducted their geological surveys on a proper basis, and thus furnished to the world that minuteness and accuracy of geological representation and description nowhere to be found in this country.

GEOLOGY.

The term rock, in geological language, not only applies to the hard, solid portion of the earth's ernst) but also to the sol% and loose materials, such as beds of sand, clay, peat, marl, and soil. They do not occur in a confused and irregular manner, but have a systematic order of arrange/nent) by which they may be classified into groups depending on their origin, relative age, and general characters. The most general classification is that which refers to their origin, and which divides them into three principal classes-- igneou%aqueou% and metamorphic. IGNEOUSRocKs.--The igneous rocks are those which have been formed by the action of heat in the central portion of the earth, and ejected to the surface in a molten state. Oa cool- Lug,they assume a crystalline aspect) andare generally corn-

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY posed of one or more of the following simple minerals :--feld- spar_ quartz, hornblende, and mica.. They occur in veins_ dikes_ great irregular masses traversed by joints and divisional planes, constituting mountains_ ridges, &c. AquEous Rocg_s.--The aqueous rocks arb those which have been formed by the agency of water, from the disinte- grated particles of other rocks transported by currents, and deposited as sedimcnt, in the form of strata, beds, layers, laminm_ &c. They very often contain organic remains of plants and animals.

META_IOI1PHIC RocKs.--The metamorphic rocks are those which have been formed by aqueous agencies, and subsequently so much altered in their texture by the action of heat_ as to resemble igneous rocks. They contain no visible organic remains. The above is a very general classification of roeks_ derived from their origin. The)- are subdivided into groups called systems_ according to their relative age. It is to be regretted that much confusion prevails in regard to their nomen-. elature. Every country, and almost every geologist, has a particular system of names, derived either from characteristic fossils, localities, or some lithulogical peculiarity of the rocks. Those most generally used and understood in this country_ are thn nomenclature of the English geologists, and that proposed by the geologists of the New York survey. Thd former is chiefly derived from localities in Great Britain, the latter from locali* ties in N'ewYork where particular groups of rocks arc well developed. As this was the first attempt at a complete classification of the rocks of this country_ it has been generally adopted in different States of the Union, and undoubtedly will remain as a standard of comparison. Geologieal investigation arranges and classifies the roeks_ represents their extent, thickness, and order of arrangement_ by means of sections, profiles, &c.; points out and describes the valuable mineral deposits of each formation, and the manner in which they may be worked and applied to various economical purpose_ But in order to

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY iLL 7 accomplish this most successfully, it must call to its aid palm- ontology, mineralogy, and chemistry. It is by means of the minerals, and organic remains, that tho geologist is enabled to determine the varieties of rocks, and their relative ages--one of the most important considerations in a practical or economical view, for it is only in particular formations, Rut].of a particular relative age, that valuable mineral deposits occur. For example, in connection with the igneous and metamorphic rocks (azoie), as granite, trap, gneiss, ehloritic_ talcose_ and hornblende slates, beds of quartz and saccharoidal marbles_ or white crystalline limestone, occur the principal metalliferous deposits, as gold, silver, copper, iron, zinc, &c. It is in connection with the aqueous rocks of a certain relative age, that occur the great coal deposits, &c. The former are determined by their lithological character, the latter by thcir organic remains.

PALEONTOLOGY.

(O_GA._0 nE_x1_80Y aNIMXLg A_D PLANT&) ItsImportanaml_ _ZatlontoGeoZogy.

Paheontolo_ is the science which treats of fossil remains. It has becn satisfactorily proved by geological and pal_eonto- logical research, that at different periods of time the crust of the earth has undergone numerous and various changes; that at one time it was inhabited by no living being; that the wa- tern of the ocean covered its surface ; that at a certain period animals and plants sprang into existence, and after living through a few generations died, leaving their remains entombed in the sedimentary deposits of the ocean's bed. Starting from this point, as we ascchd in the scale of animal and vegetable existence, we find now tribes of animals and plants successively appearing and disappearing, generation ssuccecding generations, until finally man and his associates, the most perfect of them all, crown the era of animal existence. Some tribes and species have lived through long and saecessive peri-

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ods of thousands of years, others for comparatively but a short period. It is often askca during what length of time have all of these successive changes taken place. But the geologist can compute time only by comparison. That it must have been inconceivably great, no one who studies the vast sedimentary deposits in which these remains are found before man appears upon the surface, and then e_rapares the time which was necessarily required in forming these deposits with the time duri_ag which that portion of the earth's crust was deposited in which the remains and works of man are found, will fail to conclude that it is impossible to form an adecluate idea of its long duration. Having perfected and regulated,the order of succession in which these changes have taken place, the geologist, commencing with the oldest aqueous rocks, reads the condition of the earth at that period, the state of the atmosphere and its temperature, the changes which took place by aqueous and • volcanic agencies, and then, coming as it were to a chapter of more modern history, he reads of another period ; and thus, turning page aRcr page, examines successively the changes which have marked the earth's history daring a lapse of millions of years. So regularly have these changes occurred over the'whole surface of the earth, that the nature of the organic remains is sufficient to determine the general character of the rocks, and the period at whleh they were formed. Perhaps it may not be out of place here to remarlq for the information of many with whom I have conversed in different parts of the State during the past year, and who entertained . an idea that the principal object in collecting fossils, or organic remains, was merely the formation of cabinets of curiosities at the State capitol, and at the various county scats, at a large expenditure of the public money, that the organic remains found in the rocks constitute the basis of economical geology. It is to them that many of the valuable discoveries in the aqueous rocks are due. The rescarehcs of Messrs. Conrad and Hall,. have been the means of placing the geology of this country on

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its proper basis. Had it not been for the fossilsj or remains of plants and animals that were found in the aqueous rocks of the. State of New York, the geologists of the survey of that State would not have been able to determine the non-existence of coal in that region, which has been the means of prevent- ing a usclcss expenditure of thousands of dollars, in searching for that material. It was. by means of organic remains that the extent and boundaries of the salt-bearing rocks of that State have been ascertained and accurately defined. It is by means of the occurrence of particular fossils in the marl formations of this State, that the researches of the past year have proved the existence of three distinct beds, .and determined accurately the extent and thickness of each of them--a matter of great importance to the land-holders of that section of the State. It is evident_ then, that to attempt to describe the gee- logical features of a country, and particularly their economical importance, without considering their organic remains_ would be throwing aside the grand principles upon which the science is founded.

CHEMISTRY AND MINERALOGY.

In the preceding paragraphs we have referred to the different formations of rocks which compose the crust of the earth, and tbe various changes which from time to time they have undergone_ as well as the great lapse of years during which these changes have taken place. ,It is one of the first a principles of l_atural Philosophy that no change can take place in nature, which cannot be referred to some cause, some active 'force, as the agency. This fact is satisfactorily demonstrated on every hand in the world around us. Whether we consider those mighty and wonderful changes in the earth, or the more insignificant changes which take place in the merest atom upon its surface, every where the same law holds g6od. .At this stage, then, of geological iavestigation_ after having examined the varied results of a series of changes thai; have been going on for myriads of years_ it becomes us to ex-

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• amino into the causes of these changes, and chemistry reveals to us the laws by which they are governed. It has been said by Bischof_4. the celebrated chemical geolo_st, that our earth_ as far as we know it_ is a'grcat chemical laboratory, in which sinc_ the period of its creation uninterrupted chemical pro- cesses have been in operation, and will continue so long as it describes its course around the sun. The soil, the atmosphere, animals, and plants, arc constantly undergoing changes ; and each performs its part in the great and uninterrupted circle of transmutations. :Rocks arc composed of one or more distinct substances called simple minerals, such as quartz (silica), feldspar: mica_ hornblende, carbonate of lime, tale, oxide of iron, &c. These simple minerals are composed of elementary substances 2such" as oxygen, hydrogen_ carbon, silioium_ aluminum: potassium, sodium, calcium_ &c., which uniting together in twos form binary compounds ; and it is in this latter state that they occur in minerals. • The most common binary compounds are silica, composed of oxygen and silicium; alumina_ of oxygen and aluminum; llme, of oxygen and calcium ; potash_ of oxygen and potassium, &c. Reeks are sometimes classified according to the prcdomi- * _ nancc of some one of the above bilmry coinpounds---as a sili- ciouS or arenaceous rock: one in which quartz predominates;

0 an argilIasoous rock, one in which alumina or clay predomi- nares; a calcareous rock, one of which lime is the principal constituent; and a carbonaccous rock, one in which carbon prevails. Almost all the changes that take'place in the rocks and materials, organic or inorganic, which constitute the crust o_ the oarth_ or grow upon its surface, have their origin in the transformations of the simple elementary bodies. Having a knowledge of the laws by which these transformations are governed, we are able to apply them to the various useful purposes of life. * BiBehof'BGeologic--_IntroduetloD.

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It is in consequence of such transformations that soils are formed of the deb_ of rocks, from which' plants receive their sustenance; consequently the chemical character of soils par- takes more or less of that of the rocks from which they are derived. There are other causes too_ which tend to modify the composition of soils in particular localities, as the occur- fence of drift_ disintegration of bowlders, presence of organic matterj &c. When all of these circumstances arc taken into consideration, the general properties of soils al_ known without subjecting them to minuto chemical examinations. The decomposition and disintegration of rocks by chemical agencies is a subject of great importance in rural economy, and one which should receive careful investigation. It has an important practical application in a variety of ways. It teaches the distinctive properties of the soil, to what kind of vcgcta. tion it is adapted, and how it may be improved either by cul- tivationj or by the addition of foreign substances as fertilizers. It is by investigating the laws of nature in her varied ehemi. " eel and mechanical changes, that we am enabled to imitate them in the practical pursuits of life_ and make them subser- vient to our happiness and prosperity.

I_ESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC I_VESTIGATION IIq THE STATE AT '1"BE COM_ENCE_fENT OF THE SUI_VEY.

Upon receiving my commission as superintendent of the survcy_ I procecded immediately to ascertain what reliable information respecting the topography and geology of the State previous researches had already laid before the people. :My principal object was to ascertain, if there existed any cot- , feet maps, or reliable surveys, which might serve as a proper basis for delineating accurately the geological features of the State. The different editions of the State map_ the county maps, and several local surveys were examined. None of them were found to be sufficiently eorrect_ or to furnish the necessary _tata from which such a map could be compiled as

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY the objects of the survey) in compliance with the la_') demand.. Some of the results of my researches were as follows: The first complete map of the State was compiled by Thomas Gordon, from various local surveys) together with some original surveys procured by au act of the Legislature, passed November twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred'andtwenty- two, authorizing a loan to Tl_omas Gordon of' one thousand dollars, to enable him to obtain additional surveys for the purpose of making a State map. This map_known as Gor- -den's map, was completed and published in the year eighteen hundred and twenty-eight. Daring the same year, upon the sixth of March, a resolution was ,passed by the Legislature, authorizing the Governor to subscribe for one hundred and twenty-five copies. On the fourteenth of Febru_.ry_ eighteen hundred and thirty-one, the Legislature passed an act authorizing the treas_er to cancel Gordon's bond, and the Governor t • to take one hundred and twenty-five additional copies at one thousand dollars. A second edition of the State map was revised, corrected, and improved, by l_bert E. Horner_ by a resolution of the Legislature , appropriating cue thousand dollam, passed Feb. ruary twenty-fifth_ eighteen hundred and forty-seven. This is the last and most reliable edition of the State map. Every other map, made since the publication of this cdition_ has f been compiled therefrom; and the manner in which this was made was sufficient to satisfy me of its want of accuracy, and of its insufficiencyas a basis for the geological purposes of the survey. Subsequent examinations and field researches have verified my suppositions, as will be seen byreferrlng to th0 annexed report of Mr. "V'ielcjthe State Topographical cngi: • user. In the year eighteen hundred and thirty-five, the Legislature passed an act authorizing a geological and IAiaeralogical sar- • vey of the State, with an appropriation of one thousand dollars. This survey was conducted under the superintendence of Professor Henry D. Rogers, and the first report of it was made during the following year. _Iai:ch tentlh of the same

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year 7a further appropriation of two thousand dollars yeasmade. March seventeenth, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, two thousand dollars more were appropriated ; and on the twenty- seventh of February, eighteen hundred and thirty-_ight, two thousand copies of a final report were ordered to be published at eighty,seven cents each. This repo_ containing three hundred aud one pages, together with a geological map, was published in eighteen hundred and forty, and embraces a general outline of the geological formations of the State, with analyses of some of the rocks, greensand, and fresh water " marls and calcareous tufas, also some general observations on " their application to agriculture and the arts. The survey of Professor Rogers was as minute and detailed as the circumstances and the early day of geological science would allow ; and when we take into consideration the meagre means placed at his disposal, and the short space of time al- lotted forthc accomplishment of the work, we can do no less than say, that the outlines of the different formations were accurately defined, and a vast amount of Useful information respecting the natural resources of the State presented, resulting in great public benefit, and had the people more generally availed themselves of it, would have been of still greater benefit to them in' their agricultural, architectural, and many other ,_ pursuits of life. Previous to the survey of Professor Rogers I local examinations to some extent had been made chiefly in the mineral regions of the northern part of the State, and in the marls of the southern section. Among those who took the most active part in the researches at that time, were Dr. Samuel Fowler, . of:Franklin, Sussex County, who published several articles in S]lliman's Journal, on the mineralogy and geology of Sussex County ; Prof. Nutall, Messrs. Vanuxem, Kcating, and others, who_ from time to time, contributed papers to Silliman's Jour- nal, and the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences, 6f Philadelphia. Dr. Morton and Mr. T. A. Conrad, of Philadel- phia, had .very thoroughly examined a_ad_:leseribed the fossils of the southern section of the State. The published results of

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these labem are among the most valuable eontri'b'utlons to science that this country has afforded, and will stand as mo_u- meats to the high scientific attainments and indefatigable iul dustry of their authors. During the past three or four years, many detailed local examinations have been made in the mineral regions of the State by eminent scientific men, which have resulted in very valua: ble discoveries of new minerals and natural, fertilizers. But as the investigations have been made solely for the advancement of private interests, tile people at large have been but little benefited thereby, and indeed have frequently parted with valuable property in mineral districts for a trifllng nonsidera. tion ; things which would not have occurred had they been possessed of such reliable information as a detailed geological survey would have afforded. .,it the time of the last geological survey, very little attention was paid to the importance of the application of chemical and geolo_cal researches to agriculture. The State was corn: paratively thinly settled) and the average quantity of rich vir- gin lands being very great in proportion to the inhabitants, its necessity and value were not so apparent as at the present time, when a eonstalat tide of immigration is densely populating its territory) and the once rich lands are becoming impover.. ished by an exhausting system of tillage.

MINERAL RODS) HAZEL WITCHES) FOOL)S GOLD) SEARCHINO FOR GOLD.

The frequent applications that have been made to me for the loan of divining or mineral rods, either for the purpose of discovering the hidden treasures that lie concealed beneath the hurface of the earth, or for reaching some vein of gold, silver, or copper) of. which a traditionary account has been handed down from generation to generation, or for exploring the spot where a flash ofligh.t has been seen, or an explosion heard-- which by many arc believed to be infallible signs of the oe-

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currenoc of minerals ; and the experiments which I have wit- nessed of the use of the hazel witch, for the purpose of locating wells where the water runs nearest to the surface, suggest the propriety of making some remarks by way of caution to those who believe in the efficacy of such means.' In my travels through the State_ hardly a day passes on which such applications are not made to me, together with the • recital of wonderful discoveries which have been made through such instrumentalities. It is not indeed wonderful, that there is so mush credulity among the great masses of the people, for they have but little knowledge of the properties of minerals, or of the elementary principles of natural science. It seems to them as reasonable to believe that the presence of gold, silver. or copper may be indicated by some such instrumentality, as that a vein of magnetic iron ore may be discovered by means of the magnetic needle. In order that I may give a clearer idea of the manner in which many people of this State have been duped, I will briefly mention a few cases that have eomz under my own observation. Two years ago, a very worth_ and respectable man called upon me, stating that he supposed I had a mineral rod that would discover a vein of copper, its depth from the surface, its width, and the quality of the ore_ and that he would like to borrow it re/" the purpose of finding a vein of copper in Morris County, which his grandfather had discovered some sixty years ago, and some of the ore from which he had smelted in'a blacksmith's forge in the vicinity. He stated that his grandfather had moved to Missouri when his father was a boy_ and had often told his son of this copper vein, giving to him be- ' fore his death a map of the property, upon which was indicat: ed the precise spot where the opening had been made into it. He felt so confident that by means of this map he could go directly to the concealed treasure, that he endeavored to purchase the property at a very high price. On arriving at the premises in quastion_ he was unable to find the opening into the vein, on account of the changes which cultivation had wrought upon the fields He immediately applied to a man

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 16 in the vicinity who possessed a mineral rod of marvellous virtue, and who professed to be skilled in its use ; told him his story, and, after receiving from the mineralizer assurances of the occurrence of a copper vein in that field which his mineral rod had discovered several years previous, offered to disclose it to him, together with its precise width, richness, &e., for the sum of twenty.five dollars. The stipulated amount having been" paid, they proceeded to the'field ; the mineral rod pointed out the vein, the dimensions of which were duly defined with. stakes. So'well satisfied was he with the correctness of the revelations of the magic rod, that on the following day hc offered to purchase the property at ten times its value. Its owner, however, catching the enthusiasm and dreaming of be, coming suddenly rich, would not dispose of his property under any circumstances; but offered to lease it on yery favorable terms. A lease was accordingly drawn, and our hero corn, menesd operations by sinking a shaft over the supposed vein ; and when he applied to me had already sunk the shah twice the depth required by the revelation; and having expended several hundred dollars, was about returning to the West either to induce his father, an old_feeble man, to come and point out the spot, or to recruit himself with funds to prosecute the work. During the last summer,' I met with one of these'philosophers in whose hands the divining rod possseses such wonderful powers, and who has acquiredgreat reputatiqn in the north. era part of the State, not' only from the pretended discoveries that he has made, but for his untiring efforts to ,unfold hlddcn tr&sures. After much difficulty, my curiosity was gratified by seeing the veritable rod with which, according to his own statement, he had located the principal gold mines of Virginia and :North Carolina, had discovered sunken steamboats on the great lakes, had told how much silver there was in the Sussex. Bank, had traced the franklinite and zinc ores of Stlrling Hill for miles from their present location, had dlscovered the principal'iron veins of New Jersey, and for which he had been of- fared two hundred thousand dollars, by a company in Call- fornia

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• , : P • The instrument resembled an ordinary metallic syringe_ about one inch in diamcter_ and five or six inches in ]ength_ having screws attached to the larger cxtremity_ by which it' •could be fastened to the handle of _:cane. He stated that it ivas made of silver, and that its virtue depended'on a peculiar substance which he had dlscovered, and which he placed in 'the syriuge, when he wished to search for silver ore. These instruments were made of different mate/'ials according to the metal sought; for example, if the object of his search was gold_ he used one made of that metal, and charged in the same manner: if;he sought iron, his instrument was of'ironj &e. When on his exploring expeditlons_ he carried with him a number of them. He never allowed them to go out of his hands, as their magic influence would thus be at once destroyed. I was very roach amused by his compauy during a short trip over the Sparta' Mountain, when he promised to point out to. me the precise locality of the franklinito and zinc veins crossing this region. He informed me, in different places, as to the precise number of feet and inches atwhich these veins lay from the surface ; and after showing several small bowlders of zinc and franklinite ore lying on the surface of his vein_ he observed : "a good many scienti.fic geologists have been around here, who think they know every thing about minerals and so on, and they say that these are loose pie6es that have travelled from the mine at Stifling Hill, but it ain't so; it's agin' nater for stones to swim or run up hill." I would not have repeated so much of his j_rgon, had I not been informed that du_'ing the past three or. four years he has received'eight or ten thousand" dollars for his prof'essiorial services in that vicinity, and that a large amount of money has been expended in digging under his directions• Water philosophers, or those who profess to be able, by means of the witch hazel_ to discover springs and streams of water beneath the' surface_ are somewhat numerous throughout the State_ and arc often called from some dlstaDt place to.de! tide upon locations for digging wells. I had an opportunity of witnessing the operations of one of them in locating a 2

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L 18 stream of water, and determining its depd,, capacity, &e.; but in regard to the correctness of his statements I had no visible evidence. One of the most eqmmon delusions, and one that has caused. a great expenditure of money, is the flashing of lights and rumbling noises, concerning which many notions are entertained. Daring the past summer, I found men on the Blue. Mountain digging for gold in the hard Shawangunk grit, where lights were said to have been seen ; and numerous are the excavations that have been made there in search of gold, solely on-account of.some traditionary tale about the appcar- anne of fire or smoke. Among the inhabitants of that mountain there is hardly a man who has not heard of lights and rumbling noises. In several of the excavations I found iron pyrites, which, by a rapid decomposition, sometimes produces a great deal of heat and even smoke ; and if lights have ever been seen, their origin can be referred to the pyrites. Fo_ the information of those who are so credulous in such matters, I may l_e allowed to say that they are no indication of valuable mineral deposits. The occurrence of iron pyrites, to a greater or less extent, in almost all the rocks of the northern part of the State, has been the cause of a useless _xpenditure of money. On account of its resemblanea to gold in color, and the frequency of its being mistaken for that mineral, it has been called "fool's gold?' Many have sought me with parcels of it carefully wrapped in paper_which they had obtained at an expenditure of much labor and money, and have asked its value, together with advice as to the best method of continuing their work. It may be readily distinguished from gold by holdihg it in the flame of a candle or throwing it in the tire, when it will lose its b_'illianthue; while gold, under the same circumstances, will preserve its color. It may also be detected by its brittleness ; for if the point of a knife be pressed against it, it will break readily, while gold is tenacious and difficult to be .broken. . . The frequent occurrence of dark-colored slates and shales

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,19 along the Delaware River, and east of the.Blue Mountain, has induced many to believe that coal must be associated with them; and many excavations have been vainly made in search of it, It often happens that coal miners, passing through the country, assert the presence of coal in these distrlets_ on account of the similarity existing between the shales hem and the slates of the coal mines in which they have worked. These men are not unfroquently employed to dig for coal. But so far as the geological researches have extended durin_ the past ycar,_it is ascertained that no coal exists there. I think it may be safely said that the money expended in idle researches at the instigation of pretenders 2 or from a laol_ of information respecting the natural resources of the Stater would be more than sufficient to complete the survey, and thus afford reliable information to every one of its inhabitants. We are apt to wonder at the credulity of our forefathers in their belief in the ma_cian's wand and the philosopher's stone r but nowhere in history have we accounts more absurd than. those furnished in our very midst. In fact, there has always been a kind of superstitious feeling or credulity respecting the precious metals_ and I know of no better way of dispelling it than by the promotion of education, and the dissemination of useful knowledge, in which New Jersey is now taking a very creditable stand_ by the establishment of a liberal system 6f instruction, and by carrying on extensive internal impr0ve- ments.

PLAN OF SURVEY.

The plan adopted for prosecuting the survey, aa_5:_.whi'ctiJ it has hccn conducted during the past ycar_ divide_ i_ iilte foaw principal departments, viz. : 1. The Trigonometrical and Topo_q'aphical.. 2. The Geological. 8. The Pal_eontologieal. 4. The Chemical and Mineralogical. :

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY t ? 2O

• "_ _I 0 _ETRICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL DEPART_IENT. , i

0n referring to the accompanying report of Mr. E. L. "'Yiele, the State Topographical Engineer, it will be observed that this part of the survey has been vigorously prosecuted. •'When we'take into consideration the limited 'means placed at 'his disposal for proi_erly commencing the work, the maily difficulties under Which be labored'at the outset, and the late- ..... Ù ness oftbe season, it will be seen th_.t much has been aecom- -]pliSiaed. It will be remembered that the object of this part of •the survey is to furnish a detailed and accurate topographi_l 'fiaap oCtbe State, upon which its geological features may be correctly' del{neated, and 'from which sections may be made :representing the thickness and superposition of each formation of rocks; and as this is the groundwork of the geological survey proper, the greater part of the funds placed at my disposal has been appropriated to its prosecution, in order that as much of the topo_aphy might be completed'_ possible by •the opening of the next year, which being mapped out during '._ae _vinter, would serve as a guide in the detailed geological ".e'iamination for thattycar. Independent of the great imp6r- CtanceOfthis survey, bn account of its c6nnecti0n with'geology, ' it/rill'be of incalculable benefit ih various respects. It will :tfdru_sh a map upon which every mountain; hill, and valley, _rith .their Comparative dimensi6us, every boffadary line, natural and artificial ; every road, river, stream and canal ; every farm and house, will be represented. By it, public works . may be plotted, and systems of drainage established. It will be of great benefit in the opening ?f mines, quarries, and . _dep6si_ of fer.tilizem.

GEOLOGICAL DEPART_Eb_r.

In the gcologlcal department two_'di_si6ns ot"'the iState have been made: l_orthern andlSout_qrn. T_e line of di- visioU extends from S_teu Island S6_ud near Elizabethport

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY to the Delaware River/a little below Trenton following the southeastern border of the red shales and sandstones which stretch across the central pa_ of the State. This line has been selected on account of its being a natural division of thei_ State into two nearly equal parts, in mspcet to area_ while in respect to their physical, geological and agricultural features_ they are entirely different. The adoption of this division_ will, in the fi,u!tl report, be the means of avoiding unnecessary'? repetition,

SOUTHERN DIVISION.

The southern division of the State has been assigned to Professor George H. Cook_ assistant geologist of the survey. He enteredupon hisdutiesin Monmouth County ou th_27th. of July last, and from that time to the present hasbeen engaged cither in the field or in the laboratory. His attention has been chiefly directed to the marl beds of the greensand i formation ; and a perusal of his report will satisfy all of the great importance of a more minute examination than has hitherto been made. Allow me to call your attention especially _iothat part of his report which refers to the following facts_ proved from examinations in the field: 1. "The clays and marls which constitute the basis of most of thispartof the Statearein regularand continuous layers." 2. "The'layersare.not love!,but inofin.ore dip tgwards" thesoutheast."' 3. "Since thoselayerswere formed,the actionof the water_or othercauscshas_ worn away and changedthe sur- faceof thecountry." Laying asideforthepresent,theimportanceof thesefacts in a scientifipointc .ofvisw! .will.merely,refer'totheirprac_. ticaapplil cation. :Althoughthe layersof marl#constitutingthisformation_ are not love!, yet the_, are'd_po_ted. in.a.c.e_.ta, in'"plane wl_'o's_" inclinationistowardsthe sour.he,t.The,irregula3"itiof these.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY surface of "thesoil laaving been produee_l subsequently to' the . deposition of the marl layers, by the action of "currents of water, winds, &c.,it is evident that these irregularities are entirely independent of the surface of the marl layers. Know- ing then the inclination of the layers of the latter, and adopt- ing their surface as a base, we may, by measuring tile inequalities of the surface across the formation, ascertain the precise depth of each bed of marl•from the surface, and represent it by means of maps and sections; thus each landholder within the formation can determine the most aocessibl0 localities for opening marl pits. Hitherto the discovery of marl pits has been uncertain and accidental, on account of a want of that accurate information respecting their position, division into distinct layers characterized by particular fossils, and their posi-" tion relative to the surface configuration. If, then, land upon which marl is accessible is worth from five 1:oseven dollars per ten feet square upon the surface, and scientific investigation determines where such lands may be located within the five hundred and seventy-six thousand acres of this formation, it is superfluous to enlar'g_ uPon the great benefits to be de( rived from it.

_ORTaEm¢ Division.

To the geological examination of the northern division of the State, I have given my own personal attention, and the result_ thereof will be seen in the sequel to this report.

• " PAL_O_N_rOLOGICAL DEFARTMEI_T.

This being one of the most essential branches of the science ofgeology_ I directed, at the commencement of the surv6y_: each member of the corps to pay particular attention to searching for, gathering, and preserving organic remains. The result is, that quite a large cbllectiou of the fossils of Sussex "and Monmouth counties has begn made and for'.v_.rdedto the State

O NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY "23

capital, as well as to thecounty seats of the counties in which they are found. The collection from each formation being still incomplete, and the time very limited, it is deemed inex- pedient to make any description of the specimens already procured until a subsequent report. I would rccommend a vigor- ous prosecution of this very important department of the survey, so that upon its completion, every species of organic remains found inthe State may be accurately described and re- , presented.

CHEMIC&LA2qDMINEI_ALOGICALDEPARTMENT.

Mr. Henry Wurtz, the chemist and mineralogist of the sur- vey_ entered upon his duties on the first day of _Tovember last. In order that the chemical investigations of' some of the most important minerals and fertilizers might be made at as early a day as possible, I directed him to rent a building suitable for n laboratory at Trenton, and to proceed at once to furnish it with the necessary apparatus and reagents. The amount of funds set apart for this purpose being wholly insufficient, Mr. Wurtz has, by adding his own apparatus and chemicals, formed a very complete and convenient laboratory, and already ri/ade'some chemical investigations of the fresh-water marls and calcareous sinters of Sussex County_ the results of which will be found in his accompanying report. Prof. Cook has also been engaged in his laboratory at Rutgcrs College_ !n making examinations of the greensand marls, and the results of his researches will be found to be of very considerable importance.

'CABINET.

The' law authorizing the survey provides for the'collection of two complete suites of specimens of all the different mlne_- als, rocks, fossils_ marls I clays, sands, peats_ &c.; one to be forwarded to Trenton_ to be disposed of as the LegiSlature may hereafter direct ; the other_ consisting of the minerals_

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 24

&e., peculiar toeac h county, to be forwarded .to th? county , seat, t_ndthere disposed of as the ,Board of Freeholde_'s shall •deem p_'oper.. As far as the researches have extended in de- tai],.three suites have been made---two for Trenton and one for :the county seat. '! think it advisabl 0 that two suites shoulcl be made for the State, in order that the final arrangement o.f •the cabinet may'be divided into two parts, viz. : a geological and .geographical arrangement. The former to exhibit the rocks in their order, together with their associate mineraIs_ fossils, &e., corresponding with the geological maps, sections, &e.; the latter a local arrangement in townships or sections of townships, in correspond wkh the accompanying local descriptions. I propose to adopt the latter alone for the county cabinet6. . . During the year twenty-six boxes of roeks_,minerals,'and - fossils have been foi'warded to Trenton from Sussex .Couuty, and eight to Newton. Prof. Cook has made a complete collection of the marls of Monmouth,.as £_r as his detailed ex- • aminatibns have extended. They have been properly ore-, pared and labelled, and now awah a suitable place for their reception. The very great variety of minerals and organic .remains of'this State,,will necessarily form an extensive cabinet, ,and I .would therefore call the attenti0n.of the Legislature jto the importance of taking some steps.to'_ards obtait)_ng e" . suitable rooms for its permanent arrangement: "I would _dsp ..here state that seyeraI applications hay e ibsen made to me by different ,educational institutions in this, as .w_ll .as.in •other •States, for complete collections of New Jersey minerals_ rocks, as much expense attends the collection of speet- mens, and as the law does not authorize more than two suites,

I c•ould not t*comply with any of these requests. It is very desirable, however, that a'knowledge of the resources of this. :S.tate should be spread as widely and rapidly as possible, and there is no mor_ effectual way than by distributing samp.lesof" its productions to every part of the country. The subject is :,worthy of the consideration of the Legislature,.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 25

EXPENSES OF THE S1JRVEY.

IJ'pon organizing a competent corps, consisting of an engineer, assistant geologist, chemist, and mineralogist, and other ajd._ sufficient to commence and carry onthe survey in accord: Iance wit h the adopted plan, a difficulty was encountered at the outset, on account of the smallness of the appropriation. ' Rcconuoissanees were to be made, instruments, apparatus, anc}'chemicals to be provided and transported, and a variety of preliminary arrangements req.ulred, as may readily be expected at the opening of a work of this kind. It was evident "that to commence the survey oa this plan, in all the dcpart- ments_ not only .a rigid economy must be observed, but that the greater pa_"t of the necessary instruments must be obtained othe_'w!sethan by purchase. With this' view_ letters were addressed to Prof. Baehe, superintendent of the'Unlted States Coast Survey_ laying before him the embarrassing circumstances under which we labored, and soliciting the loan of certain instruments. Prof. Bache, convinced of the great importance of the undertaking, responded unhcsltetingly to our soil- _citations, and forwarded all that we needed ; tt_e acknowledgment of_vhieh, together with tt_e acknowledgment of the re- ceipt of instruments from the New Jersey Frank!inite Com- pahy, will be found in the accompanying report of the topographical engineer. Each member of the cor15salso loaned his "instruments 'b.nd apparatusp and thus a great expense was avoided a'_ th9 outset. As several applications had been received .frgm young, men ,des_3.ousof becoming connected _'ith the survey, for the purpose of acquiring practical knowledge in the several depart- meuts_ it was thought advisable to receive all such _ voluu- teers_ who should be willing to bear their own expenses, and have assigned to them a particular duty, m which they should attend as assiduously as if they were compensated. At different t!mss during the year_ eight have been received upon these terms ; and although an ackn0_f!edgment ' is due to some G

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY _6

of them, yet, as a general role, I do Jot think the plan is an economical one; for in every department of the survey_ it is necessary that each member of it should know his duty, and attend to it zealously. The applicants or volunteers are chiefly • young men, who have just completed their collegiate education, without any fixed business habits, and ia some cases un- settled as to the choice of a profession. They enter upon the survey, and in n few'weeks, becoming dissatisfied, desire to try some other department. The result is, that the party he- comes dlsorganizcd, operations temporarily suspended_ until a reorganization can be made; and thns, indirectly, a greater expense incurred than would compensate competent assistants. In making the above remarks, I do not wish to convey the idea that such has been the case with all the volunteers who have been engaged in the survey. Some of them have been of much service to the State, and I trust have received in return inuch useful and practical information. This statement am ifiduced to make on account of the numerous applications for such situatlons_ as well as for the purpose of removing the impression received by many, that such services must diminish the expense of the survey. The following is an abstract of the disbursements in prosecuting.the survey for the year ending December 31, 1854: For services, _3,680 10 " instruments and _pparatus, 133 50 , " incidentals, 186, 40 '

Amount, $4,000 00 Appropriation for survey_ made March 2d, 1854, --.$4,000 0".0

_STIMATE OFIEXPENSES FOR THE YEAR EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FIVE.

Th'o foilowlng is an abstract of the expenses for prosecuting the survey in an expeditious and economical mannei'_for the year eighteen hundred and fihy-five:

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 1 ' I

Trigonometrical and Topographical (tepartmeut, $15,000 Geological Department--Southern Division, 2,000 " " " _ortheru Division, 4,000 Chemical and Mineralogical department I 2,506 Palmontological department, 1,500 •" $25,000 With this amount the topography can be extended over' the greater part of the State; the geological researches made in detail as far as the topography extends, together with a general examination of the remaining portion, leaving the survey in such a condition that the entire field work of the State can he completed in eighteen hundred and fifty-six. In the preceding pages, I have endeavored to present a general outline of the manner of prosecuting accurate geological surveys, and of the plan upon which the survey of this State has been commenced and carried on, the amount of time and means for completing it, and the benefits to be expected therefrom• I trust that the Legislature will take the matter • fully into consideration, and that an ample appropriation will be made towards its rapid completion. The geographical position of the State, its varied physical aspect, geological forma. tions' and soils, demand that every acre of its territory should ba thoroughly examined. There was a time, in the infancy of the science of gedlogy, when general investigations were deemed sufficient to answer all practical purposes. That tim_ has passed away ; economical geology has become an accurate science, and in order that the moat beneficial results may be attained from its investigations, it must be pursued in an accurate manner.

SEQUEL TO NORTHERN DIVISION.

I have devoted the greater part of my time_ from the middle of July to the first of December, to gdolo_cal examina_ tions of the northern division of the State. During this time I have made a reeonnoissance of Sussex County, and a part of

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY (

98.

Morrisand Phasalc counties; also detailed 9xaminatlons of the _ownsh ps oFSparta, Hard ston Vernon _Vantage Monta ue and a part of Sandiston .and lqowton Several geological 'sec-

t*ion* s .have been made frh'lom* act,, ual measurement. ( ,s and.levellin. • gv _ross the country from the Delaware River to.the Highlands; also sections, on a greater scale, of important mineral localities and mines representing the relative position, thickness and dip of each kind of reeks, and their associated ores. Twenty s_etches, i]!u_tratlng the _physi_l features,of th.e surface, and geologica! peeuliaritias 9f th.e rgeks, have been taken and will be sub mittrd, for the"inspection of the Legmlatur q. The s¢c- l_ions,profiles, and sketches, are intended to accompany the final report. Thirty-four boxes of minerals, fossils, marls, pea,ts,&c.,have .been collected, and forwarded to Trenton for examination, !al:clling, &c. But since the close of the ficlcl labors, there has not been sufficient time to make such an examination as is' 1necessarybefore an accurate and complete repqrt can be.rendered on any particular locality or formation _ shall there,-. fore' only give a synopsis of such result.4Of the investigation as

may be particularly useful and shall confine myselfv to thatl part of Sussex County in which the more detailed researched have• been, made., , •

.GENERAL. RE_IARKS OIq THE PHYSICAL GEOGRApIIy A_'D GE- ,, , , . • OLOGIOAb)FOR_A_ObOr F SUSSEXCOUZ_Vr. " Thephysi=lgeographyofSu=exConnty,iudeed,ih tof ;d_owhole northern division of the State; presents a §trlking'

contrast to that of the southern division ; for while the"/ lattel resembles an extended plain) offering but little to attract the attention of the traveiler_except its fertile fields and evergreen forests, the formeris dlver_ficd.3vith mountains_hills and valleys, affording t.ha,t lJcautiful and,varied scenery"so ch,ara.e_r- "rstieof mountain districts , , ) , There are three principal ranges oi"series of elevated land_.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY crossing the county m a northeasterly and southwesterly d_rec- tion, viz.: the _lue or Kittatinny Mountain, extending along the northwestern boundary of the county, from the State!of New York to PennSylvania.; the Series ()f hilIs or ridges forming'the Pochuek Mountain and Pimple Hill .and thai pal:t'bf the Highlands known as the Wawayanda, Wal!kill and Ando-

vdrcouMountainnty. s,. . stretching along, the _butheastern. .b°rd. er' of th:e Corresponding with the 'mount_iin i'anges are three valleys, viz. : the valley of the DelaWare, sitdated between the foot of the northwestern Slope of the Blue Mountain and the Delaware River; the Kittafinuy valley, ten miles in width, extending from the southeastern base of the.Blue Mountain tb the Pochuck and Pimple Hill range ; and the valley of the Wall- killj Situated between the latter and the Highlands. While the mountains ate characterized b_ a rbck_ meagre, an.d unproductive soil_ and _overed with trees of various species, and thickets of _rub oaks, the Valleys are fertile, with a soil of alluvial and diluvial originj easily eultivated_ and bountifully rewarding industry. The mountains_ valleys and'plains, are watered by numei'- ous sprlngs_ lakes and rivers. The fSrmer are every where tO be found 0n .the elevated lands; and this, together with the peculiar'adaptation of the soil to the gro_vth of grass, renders the 'country admirably _tted to the re_irin_ of'fine stock_ for Which it is somewhat celebrated. , i ' _ The numerous lakee_ situate;t upon thehighest landsj foro - ' a striking feature in the physical a./pect of thd country. They' are sometimes one mile, sometim6s Several in!los, in length and widths" ai_d' 'they abound in the. choicest' varieties of fish.'. Among them' ma_" be mentmn" ed the Wawayanu_ a' Lake located upon the n/oufitain of the sa_he name, 'and Which is a beautiful sheet of Water about two miles in length, half a mile -in ,width, and'from nihetj7 to one h_hdred 'fe_t in depth i the Ma- chipaconk Lake,..oa the Blue'_fountain, thi'ee quartersof'a mile in length and half a mile in width ; Cedar Swamp Lake_ on the Blue .Mountain, near the l_ew. York State line, dud

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 8O

thirteen hundred feet above the level of the water in the Dela- ware ; Culver's, S_vartwout_s, Long i Morris's, and.numerous - other lakes. , , The streams take their origin chiefly in 'the central part of the county, and empty their waters into the Hudson and Dela- ware rivers. Among them may be mentioned the Littlo and Big _'latkill, Paulin's Kill and Pequest, whose waters are emptied into the Delaware ; and the Wallkill, with its numerous tributaries, as the Wawayanda, Warwick, Black_ and Papakating creeks, emptying into the Hudson. • . Its geological formations arc as varied as its physical features. :From the earliest period of the earth's ex!stence, the two great dynamic forces, the igneous and the aqueous, have here alternately exerted themselves in forming and modify!ng its surface. At one time the waters of the ocean, teeming .with animal life, covered its whole extent, and deposited the materials which now constitute its sedimentary rocks. At another time igneous agencies upheave d them from their ocean beds, forming the mountains and the valleys' filling the sedimentary deposits with rich ores and minerals' and thus here " bringing together the three principal classes of rocks : aqueous, metamorphic, and igneous. • The aqueous rocks consist of a series of blue limestones of various shades of color, texture and composition ; argillaceous, silicious, and calcareous slates and shales, and red, white_ and gray sandstones, grits and conglomerates. They are composed of those series of rocks, denominated by the geologists of the \ bTew York survey, the New York System; and ¢orl:espond with the Devonian and Silurian Systems of the English geol6- ,gists. The most recent_ or uppermost of this series, is a black fissile slate, called Marcellus Slate, the oldest membe/" of the EriQ Division of the New York System. This rock has but a very limited range in this State_ occupying a bend of the Dela- ware River, which extends only three quarters of a raile below Shabacong Island; it then disappears beneath the alluvial .matter of the isiand, and of _h¢ valley of the Dcl_,wam. Its greatest width is three hundred yards. It may be examined

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 0 • x

on the farm of Peter Van/ffoy, about a quarter of a mile from the river, where a tunnel has been made in senreh of coal. Its color is very dark--ahnost a jet black ; it is very fissile, and under the stroke of the hamme 5 it breaks into small pieces not greater than six or eight inches across. It contains iron pyrites, which on the exposed surface of the rock, having decomposed and covered it with an incrustation of the hydrous peroxide of iron, gives to it a brownish iron-rust color. A considerabl6 quantity of this iron-rust, or hydrous peroxide of iron_ has been carried down by streams of watei' and deposited along the banks of the rii,'er, and thus led many, erro- neously, to believe that valuable deposits of iron ore are located in the vicinity. The next serics of rocks in the descending order; upon which the Marcellus Slate reposes conformably, is the Holder- berg Scries._ This division embraces a series of limestones, varying in their litholo_cM_ chemical and fossil characters, by which they are subdivided into beds. Among thcsubdivisions occurring in this State which are well developed, and may be ac- ourately defined by their characteristic fo_ils, may be mentioned (taking them in their order), the Cornifcrous , Onondaga, Eu- urinal, and Dclthyris Shaly limestoncs, and Water Lime Group. They all abound in,fossil remains ; the most abundant being the encrinal, coraUine, and testaceous remains; and each sulJ- division has some that are characteristic of it. They extend along the Delaware River from the :Now York State line to Wa!pack :Bend, and vary from one mile to u mile and a half in width, composing that series of rolling hills and fertfi_ ridges situated at the northwestern baso of the Blue Moun- tain. Directly under the Helderberg Series occurs the Ontario Division, of which the Medina Sandstone is well developed here (No. V. of :Prof. :Rogers), consisting of dark red sandstones and shales, occupying the l_orthwcstern slope of the Blue Mountain. , Next in the deseendi@ order occurs the Champlain Divi- sion,'of which may b? mentioned the following subdivisions:

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 32"

1st. The'Oneida or' Shawangunk"' : Conglom6rate, occupying the elevated p0rtions of the Blue Mountain, and _4hieh i_ comp0sed of a series of fine-grained sitieious grits," 60am_ sandst0hes, and congloifierdtes rhado 'up of silicious inatter. t;rom fine Sand to pebbles of quartz thre_ quartcm of an ihch in diameter; the Hudson River Group, composed of dark- colored slates, shales, thick-bedded and slaty ealcareou's grits _/o.; tl_ Utica Slate, composed of dark-colored and argillaceous slates, ft/rnishing in many places an e:¢eellent material foi roofing ; the Trenton and Black Rii:er Limestones ; Cal- ciferous Sand Rock, and Potsdam Shndstonc. The above subdivisions of the' Champlain Series, commencing with the Hudson River Group, occupy chiefly the Kittatinny and Wall_ kill v_.ileys. The metamorphmcroeks are gneiss, hornblende Slate, and "white crystalline limestone. Th¢ Ia_ter occurs chiefly in the //alley of the Wallkil!, between the Wawayanda and Wallkill mountains and the Poehuck and Pimple Hill range ; the two t'ormer constitute the principal part of the rocks of the moun. taih i-Kfiges,,aswell as several parallel belts of'the WaIlkill valley. " The' igncou_ rocks occu_rchiefly i-n the t'orm of intrusive v6ins_ dikes, _nd irregular masses of gi'anite, syenite, and '/tuartzose feldspathic rock, in the metamorphic, With the cxcep'- 'tion of a porphyritic granite which occurs protruding through 'the Hudson River Slate, and upheaving the Oneida Or Shaw: 'angdnk Conglomerate of the' Blue Mountainnear Becmersv:ille_ fl;Fcmiles northeast c)f.Culver'sGap.

, * 4 . " ' " " ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.

• Among the various ores and materials of c_onomiCalValue •occurring in the above formations are:, ,. Magnetic iron ore ; Specular iron ; . , . : LimOnite (hydre:is per6xido of iron); '

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY @

Iron pyrites i Franklinite ; Red oxide of zinc; Galena (argentifcrous); Sulphate of baryta; Roofing slate; I Limestone for building and agricultural pnrposgs; , Marble ; Calcareous sinter; Shell marl ; .. Peat; Kaolin (porcelain clay).

M_GNETIC II_01_" ORE--MAGNETITE---MAGNETIC OXIDE OF IROI_ _NATIVE MAGNET---LOADSTONF_

This ore, when pure, hasan iron black color, and metallic I lustre; is str_gly magnetic; produces a black streak when rubbed on a surface of unglazed white porcelain, and gives a black powder when pulverized. Its composition is oxygen and iron--a combination of the protoxid¢ and peroxide---72.4 ,_firon and 27.6 of oxygen, It may.be readily distinguished from other eros of iron by its black streak and powder, and i magnetic properties. The description here given is that of pur_rnaguetie iron ore, 'but this substance is very often associated with foreign matter, us quartz, mica, hornblende, feldspar, etc.; which alter the color and general character of the ore, according to the kind, quantity, and texture of the foreign matter. It is one of the most valuable ores of iron ; and from it the greater part of the iron of this State is manufactured. It occurs in veins and beds, and is disseminatdd through igneous and metamorphic rocks. In this district it occurs chiefly in the igneous and metamorphic rocl_ of the Highlands, and valley of the Wall- kill. • The following are among the most important localities..' 3

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 84',

WAYWAYANDA MINH.

This mine is situated on the Wawayanda Mountain, half a mile from the New York State line, and two and a half miles northeast of the Wawayanda :Lake. The prevailing char_/cter of the rock, in which the ore occursi is gneiss.. It is exceedingly variable in composition and texture. Mica enters but slightly into any of the rocks throughout the whole mountain, and in many places it is entirely absent When en,irely ab- sent_ hornblende_ or magnetic iron ore, in grains, takes its place, forming a syenitie gneiss. The rock in some places is composed only of feldspar and quartz_ the former being its principal ingredient. • Four deposits of ore havt_been opened and _vorked. Their prevailing course is northeast aud southwest_ and their dip from twenty to forty degrees to the southeast. .Commencing at the southeasterly deposit, and taking them in their numerical order, we find that the flint is not'worked • at the present time, and has not been for several years, because the Qre is more accessible and more abundant ia the other deposits. On account of the water in the shaft, and the dilap- idated condition of its timbering_ I was unable to make a per-. sonal examination_ but I was, however, informed by the mining captain, that it has been worked to the depth of one hundred', • and ten feet, and c_te hundred on the deposit ; and that, the ore is from twelve to fourteen feet in width, at the bottom of' the shah. • The Second deposit occurs fifty feet northwest, "of the first. It has been worked to the depth of eighty feet, and one hundred feet on the deposit ; and at its pr_ent del_th is thirty feet in width. The third deposit is seventy-five feet from the second. Here the ore occurs in the form of a bed, or irregular deposit_ varying from two to twelve fe_t, iu width. __t its present depth, one extremity of the workings shows the ore six feet in width_ and the other two feet.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 35 rr The t'ourth' deposit) forty-five feet from' the third, is frord four to five feet in width) and has been worked to the d@th of sixty-five feet.. About a quarter of a mile southwest of the Wawayanda Mine, on the property of Mr. Green, openings have been made into the third and fourth deposits, from which a large quantity of ore has been taken. All these deposits are exceedingly irregular, having no well defined walls. They occur between two strata of gneiss of (tifferent characters. The underlying stratum is generally a very hard and crystalline syenitlc gneiss ; the overhanging is chiefly composed of feldspar and quartz ; the former in large imperfect crystals and greatly'predominating. They are frequently displaced and altered by dikes of granite) which in some cases arc injected into the deposit, and in others) cut it off entirely and throw it aside. Numerous sketches and sections illustrating the dislocations have been taken, and will accompany the detailed 'description of this mine in the final report I together with the composition of the ores, metallurgy, etc. The ore from th_s mine is of an excellent quality, a large. proportion of it being entirely free from foreign substances., It= is highly magnetic, and possesses polarity. Iron pyrites some,. times occurs in very small quantities at the junction of the dikes and orej which renders them easy of scparation. It is, elfiefly smelted in a charcoal furnace upon the borders of Wawayanda Lake) and produces an iron peculiarly adapted to, the manufacture of car wheels. Almost all of it is consumed by Whitney & Son, of Phi!_.delphia, for this purpose. The mine and furnace are owned by Oliver Ames & Sons, of Bos- ton, who commenced operations here about nine years .ago. Until January last the work had been suspended',for about. four yearn, and since this time has been cr/rricd on.with great activity. t_ollowing the course of the Wawayauda Mountain towarda the southwest, indications of the existence of magnetic iron ore are every where visible. In some places it is dlsseminated in grains through the rock) formingone of its constituent min-

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 36

:e_'als; .in others it occurs in "strings, _'or small veins, from one to several inches in width. In some places, large deposits are indicated by the magnetic needle.

• "* OGDJ_qMINE.

The next important deposit of magnetic ore which has been opened and worked, is.upon the Wallkill Mountain, three miles southeast of Frankli n F.urnace. It was opened in the

year 1772 by Abram Ogden, and has since then been workedL . D , at intervalsj by different parties, its name always changing with the name of its proprietor. It has been known, at various times, by the name Of Kinney'a, Sharp's, an.d Bird's Min_. At present it is qwned by the New Jersey Franklinite Com- pany, and worked by Edward De Camp, of Charlottenburgh, whose namn it bearsr The ore occurs in the form of an irreg: ular vein or deposit varying from ten to thirty feet in width. Its general course is northeast and southwest _andjits dip is at .an angle of ten degrees to the southeast." It is now worked forty feei from the snrfaes_ and is fifteen feet in v¢idth. The ore which it yields is of a variable quality, some being entirely free from foreign substancesj while with a large proportion of it may be found the constituent minerals of the gneiss_and_i n some casesi iron pyrites in small quantities. This ore is smelted in Hopewell Forge.:

VULC_r m_.

"This mine is sltuated on Vulcan Head, on the property of "Richard R. Morris_Esq., abbut half a mile southwest of.tho Ogden Mine; Two deposits of ore have been opened by means bf shafts sunk to the de_pthof thirty feet. The first shaft exposes a mass of ore ten feet in width, dipping towards the southeast at an angle, of fourteen degrees. The ore is ,highly magnetie_ and contains a considerable quantity of feld- _.par .and.iron pyrites associated with it. ',The second shaft

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY t 87

exposes a, mass'of ore nine feet i a width, associated to a considerable extent with grains of qua/'tz and ;feldsPar;but free from iron pyrites: Small specks of carbonate and sulphuret of copper, ire disscmif_ated through some :parts of it, but not in a sufficient qdantity to injure it'as a 'furnace. ore, for which it will answer an excellent purpose. " • " Following the summit of the Wallkin Mountain towards . the sbuthwest, I observed many indications of large deposits of ol'e. Undoubtedly very extensive beds may be.opened in this vicinity, which atno distant day-Will prove a source of • great profit to their proprietors.' '

SHERMANTS MINE.

This mine is situated on Slack Brook, three quarters of'a mile southeast of Sparta. Several deposits of ore are exposed on either side of the brook, varyifig from three to ten feet in width. ' They are very irregular, having no well defined walls, and, in many places, it is difficult to ascertain their limits, be- c_iuse the ore is disseminated to a considerable extent through the adjoining rocks.

• " : ' _ ' HEMATITE. :

[This ore of iron I when pure, has a,'meiallic appearance ; is of various shades of color, and is'composed of seventy metallic iron and thirty oxygen, in one hundred parts. 'I_ is easily clistinguished from other ores of iron by its reddish streaJ_ and l_owder. 'In nature it rarely cecum in a pure state, hut gener- _.lly mingled with 'lime, silica, alumina, &c._ when its value dcper_ds on the nature and proportion of the .foreign material It is generally found in beds or irregular deposits associatpd with igneous and metamorphic rocks, .more frequently in the latter, or at the junction of the two. A great part of the iron manufactured in different countries is "from this ore, and al-

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 38

0 though it requires much'more heat to smelt, thai ) other ores, yet it produces an iron of excellent quality. In this district this ore occurs in .the white crystnlline lime_ stone, and is generally found at or near the junction of that rock with gneiss, syenite and granite. Large bpwlders of it are found all along the southeastern border of the white limestone formation fl'om the New York State ]ineaqrossthe State to Pennsylvania. A careful examination of the district will undoubtedly bc the means of developing extensiye deposits of this valuable ore. Among the localities that have already been worked to a considerable extent, I will refer to but two_ viz:,the Simpson and Andovcr mines..

• SIMPSOIq :MINE_

.This mine is in Vernon Township, half n mile from Smith- ville, and two and a half miles northeast of Hamburgh. The ' ore occurs in the" form of a bed or irregular deposit, from six to ten feet in width, in the white limestone. Excaw_tlons have been made into it to the depth of twenty feet," from which considerable quantities have been removed and smelted in the old ]]amburgh Furnace, yielding an iron of superior quality. This ore has a brownish red eolor,:a.fine steel- grained texture, and a metallic lustre. A large proportion of it is quite pure and almost entirely free from foreign materials.

ANDOVER :MINE.

• ! This mine, celebrated as one of the oldest and richest iron • mines m this country, is in the township of Newton, near the vil.lage of Andovcr, audin the same geological rafigb and for- _mation as the mine last n_entioncd. It has been worked at diffcreht times from the year deventeen hundred and sixty to the preseut, and is noted for furnishing an" ore peculiarly adhpted to the manufacture of steel. _ The ore occurs in the

• Hen. Jacob W. Miller's address before th0 New Jersey Society 1854.._,_j

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 39

form ofi.a large irregular deposit, from' sixty'to eighty f_et in "width_ and forms:thesouthwestern side of a hill ris!ng upwards' of one hundred and fifty feet above water level_ and from which during ttm last seven years over one hundred and twenty thousand tons of ore have been removed. The pria- clp_l part of the ore is specular iron o_ different shades of red v gray and blue, and of various qu_dities. Its co!or i texture and lustre depend chiefly on the foreign materials with which it is " mingled, ainong which are carbo(mte of lime, alumifi_, silica, mdgnesih, mangandse_ and magnetic oxide of iron, The following are the statements and.analyses which Mr: James C. Kent, the chemist of tile Trenton Iron Company, has, at my request, been" kind eriough.te furnish me :

"OFFmE CooP_a IRON WO_XS, _ , . December 15, 1='54. " "The'Andover mines, sit_

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY '40

• "Them are other kinds of ore o_eurring ifi sni_iller quanti- •ties. t'subjoin analyses of the most interesting :'_

• S i'owD ,Ore, Restncue Ore, (_t rbo Silicate o/M_Jsg'ae_¢ : Peroxide Iron, . 30 40 I'rotoxid0 Manganese, . 34 Csrb.Lime_ 35 12 Lime, , U Silica, . . . 30 80 Silica, . . 33 Alumina, . . 3 3 . Alumina, . .. .. 1 Oxide Manganese, . 15 Protsxide Irbn, 1.5 Carbonic Acid, . , 18 98 100 ". 98.5

• "These ores, though not unusually rich, are remarkable for the facility and rapidity of their reductioz£ in th6 smelting furnace.. "The largo quantity of the best flu±ing materials, such as manganese and carbonate of lime, contained in the-ore themselves, renders necessary the small addition of but ten per cent. of fluxing matter in woeking the ores in the furnaces. _ "In one of our furnaces (forty.two feet high and eighteon •feet across the boshcs), we have made two hundred and thirty tons of pig iron per week for six weeks in sueesssion_ with one and a half tons of coal per ton of iron ; and the yield for a single week in one furnace hes been as high as two hundred and fifty-one tons, an amount unprecedented in the annals of European furnaces. A considerable proportion: of the iron produced is of the kind termed ' lamellated." This iron is a type of the perfect combination of carbon and iron, with the carbon in larger proportion than in any other kind of.iron.• This species presents in the fracture a silvery brightness , and is beautifully crystallized, some of the crystals having brilliant faces, measuring two inches across. Another vhricty is the 'radiated/which presents a fibrous fracture, the fibres radiat- ing from the centre to the outside of the pig. , "The pig iron" made at the furnace is puddled at the'Roll- ing Mill of the Company, and the anthraci_o'bldoms thuh made are converted into the various kinds of bar iron, rails, &o. At

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY L_ q

the wire mills the blooms are worked add drawn down to the finest wire, unsurpassed in quality ; steel of the best descrip- tlon is also produced from the iron ; and when wrought iron of great strength and toughness is required, as in. the shahs for our largest class steamers, the Andovcr iron has been thoi'- oughly tested and pronounced unrivalled. "The Trenton Iron Company have three furnaces at present iu operatidn, requiring to sup'ply them sixty thousand tons of ore per annum. A large proportion of this ore is _ken from the Andover mines, yet" notwithstanding this heavy demand upon them, the mines promis.e to yield for many years to come an abundant supply. _tJAMES C.KENT."' . 8

LIMONITE--IiYDROUPEROXIDES OF IRON--BOGIRONORE--- YELLOWCLAY IRON STONE.

This ore, when pure, is composed of the hydrous peroxide of iron, and contains about sixty parts of metallic iron in one hundred. It almost always occurs mixed with foreign substances, as lime, alumina, sillc% &c., which give to it a variety of forms, and from which its name is derived. Its prevailing colors are various shades of brown and'yellow ; and its streak and powder areyellow brown. The variety called bog ore sometimes contains phosphorus, and yields a cold short iron, unfit for those purposes which require a tough tenacious metal, but admirably adapted for c_ting. This ore, in its various forms, occurs in beds associated with rocks of all ages. In this district the greatest deposits are found among the metamorphic rocks of the Wallkill Valley. Bog oi'e occurs, not unfrequently, in the Blue Mountains; and in the valley of the Delaware, but not in sufficient quantities to be of much practical importance. 'On the farm of Chandler Wood, half a'milo southwest of the New Turnpike, on the Blue Mountain, is a bed of this ore apparently of considerable extent. It is situated in a marsh at

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 4_

the foot of a sandstone ridge. Its origin may b 9 undoubtedly traced.to the iron pyrites which abounds in the Samlstml_ s and grim of this' .mountain_ and which, being" decomposed, is car. tied d_w'n by tlLe wuter_ arid deposited in the low_ swampy lands situated at the base of the ridges.

•i

POGII UCK _IINE.

Two miles nnd a half northeast of Hamburgh, betw_'en the base of' t le Poehuck Mountuiu.. mid a ridge of _!'hite ]imcstlmc_ occurs tin extensive bed of brown hematite in stalactitic, ina- milhmy and bc_tryoidal fi,rms, of t_fibrous and massive structure. Excsvati.ns have beam made on the surfaee_ two) hun-" dred ym'ds in I,readth, and from sixty to eighty feet in depth 7 from which large qu:mtities of ore have beeu tak_.n, m_d sme]tc_t iu the llamburgh Furmtee. The greater part ()f the 'ore _)_:cuJ_iu eoncrctionary masses embedded in clay aml saedj also i. I_cds of'clay of' varitms et,lors_ which have been tbrmed by tim deeomp_sition of a qJmrtzose feldspl_tbi_ rock. L:_rge masses t_f a quartzose reek, of a honeycomb 9r cellular structure, eoatais_i_J, tibrous limonite of a very pure quality, are associated with tile ubove_ haviug been apparently subjected * to an iatelJse heat. rl'his mine has not been worked fbr a number of years, on accoeag of gre_ dep!'cssion in tile iron business.

EDSALL },1INE.

• . Two miles northeast of Upper Hamburg' rb _another extcn- sire bed of llmonite has been worked. It is situated in a slight depression between the base of the Wallkill Mountain and a small knob of high!y ferruginons feldspattlic gneiss, :Excavations lmve been made two hundred feet in length and breadth on the surSaeei and forty feet in depth. The ore is of the.same" general ehamcter_ and associated with tb:o same soft feldspathie rock as in the Poehuck Mine.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 0 43

In fi_lloevi.g the course of the' Wallkill Valley," ahmg th_ base of: the mountain towards the southx_.est, ]imonite may be seen in numerous places, mingled with the soil, indicating the existence of other beds, Of equal extent and_ value_ tim,ugh this ' district." Examinations for this ore should be made at the base of the mountain, in depressions arid.valley% and in the vicinity of the white or metal,orphic limestone. "

FRANKLINITE AND RED OXIDE OF ZINC.

Franklin and Sterling Hill in this district_ have hmg been celebrated for .the intrieaey of their gcolo&dcal format ons, the r numerous rare minerals, and cxtc!_sive and .valuable 'metalliferous deposits. They have attracted men of sclencq from all parts or"the wo_ld r witll a view i0"collecting specimens with' which to enrich their cabinets, and to tur:ning the incxha,sti- ble quantities of franl_linitc and red oxide of zinc to some prac- :Licalpurpose, Ahhough, from time to time, many attempts have been made to render them available for the mnnufiketuro of zinc, iron, or some of their compounds, it was not until within a few yea_ that any favorable results havc bt'cn ob- lained. These al:e among the most valuable contributions which have L,een mnde for many years to _:nctallurgical sel- ene% and will be long regarded ,as illustrations of American cnterprlsp and perseverance. : The nature of this report will simply allow the obsei'vation that the. franklinite and zine ores are among the extensive and valuable resources, of this part of the State. Skctche% maps, section% etc., illustrating their geology, mineralogy and metallurgy, have been carefully prepared_ and will accompany full and detailed descriptlons.of them in a future report.

FRANKLINITE.

This ore occurs massiv% of a compact, coarse and finely granular struetur% also crystallized in oetahedrons. It has aa

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY r 0 i 4_

ir0n black color, naetallie, lustre and a dark reddish brown streak and powder, and acts slightly on,the magnet. It.i_ composed of iron, manganese andzinc, containing_ according to Bcrthicr, of oxide of zinc, 17 ; of iron, 66 ; an'd of manganese, 16 parts ; and, according to Dickerson, of oxide of zinc_ 21.77 ; of iron, 66.12 ; of manganese, 11.99 ; and of silica_ 0.13.

REDOXIDEOF ZINC,

This ore Occursin masses of a granular'and 'foiiated structure, also in grains mechanically associated with franklinite_ and disseminated .in White crystalline limestone.' It has a dark red color, and orange yellow streak. When pure, it eontains_ according to Whitney, 19.74 oxygcnj and 80.26 zinc in 100 parts but it also contains a small per eentage of oxide Ofman: ganese, to which its red color is ascribed. ' These two ores have been found in no country but this, and in no rc_on of it except atFranklin and Stirling Hill. Here they occur in extensive deposits, associated together, 'amt connected with the white crystalline limestone: .At Stirling Hill there arc two of these deposits from three to fifteen feet in width. Their general course is northeast and southwest, and their dip forty degrees to the snuthe_t. The red oxide 9f zinC, me- . , , . t i , ,. chanieally associated with frankbmtecand, m places dlsseml- hated to a greater or less extent through the limestonc_ occu: pies the'upper portion of the deposit, while the lower po_'tion is composed of grains and crystals Of franklinite mechanlc_.lly associated with willcmitc (silicate of zinc), disseminated through. the limestone. The greater, el: southeasterly deposlt_ occurs in a limestone bluff_'which rises, abruptly from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet, forming a steep southeaster_ slope: It h_ been worked four hundred yards on its outcrop, in one place, o_ the property of the New Jersey Zinc Compa- ny, to the depth of two hundred feet, Near the surface, the zinc portion'of the deposit was from'tw6 to three feet in'width ; at its present depth it is from six' to eigh_ feet in width, and

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 45

affords an excellent quality of ore. The franklinite portion of the vein is very ,i_'regular. In one, place,it is from fifteen to twenty.feet in width, and of a remarkably pure quality ; but, in either direction from this spot, i_tbecomes thinner, and, in many places consists of a few crystals of franklinite very spa- ringly disseminated through the limestone_ The secpnd, or northwesterly deposit, has been recently opened on the property'of the Passa'm"Company. It has been worked to'thp b depth of about forty feet, and 'as yet does not exhibit the _'egu- larity found in the former. A tunnel is now being driven _nto the base of the hill, which wi]l strike the deposit about ninety feet from its outcrop. At the present time, two companies are engaged in mining. the zinc ores of this locality, and in manufacturing directly therefrom the white oxide of zinc. The one is called the Ne W Jersey Zinc Company, and" the other the Passaic Zinc Company. The' former was organized in 1848; and their works, situated in Newark, are in successful operation, pro- duclng annually between three and four thousand tons of the white oxide of zinc, which is sold as a paint, and is pretbrred for many purposes to white lead. A small fur*aacc has been recently erected at their works, in which the refuse matter, chiefly franklinite, is.smelted for iron. . , '_ The works of the Passaic Company have been recently established at Jersey City, where preparations have been made for manufacturingthe white oxide on an extensive scale. • The only remaining locality at which these ores have been i'ouud,is at Mine Hill, in Franklin, where the frauklinite greatly l_redqminates over the other mineral. Two extensive _]eposits have been exposed, and workedto a considerable exten% cro_ing Mine Hill for a distance of three quarters of a mile in a northeasterly and southwesterly direction. They occupy the summit of the hill, .which rises :one hundred and fifty feet above water level ; and to this depth the.ore may be removed at a trifling expense." The following section on the southwestern slope of the hill,, e0m_nencing at the northwast_ and crossing the formations tOwards the southeast, represents the r_lati.veposition of the two.deposits of ore.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 46

] Syenite. 2. Magnetic iron_ from.two.to six feet in width. 3.' White Limestone, from four to ten t_eetin width..' 4. Franklinite, twenty feet in width: 5. White Limestone, sixty fce_ in width. 6. Franklinite, twenty"feet in'width. 7. White Limestone. 'The latter deposit of Franklinite (6) has.been recently ex, posed fhr several hundred yards on its outcrop, exhibiting d' mass of nearly.pure ore, var_ying from .twent_¢to fifty feet. in _,idth. :At an opening in the deposit at the northeastern part of the hill, a considerable' quantity of red 'oxide of zinc is mixed with the franklinite; as far, however, as the deposit is exposed, but very little zinc oceum. The magrietic iron ore (2) herewith associated_ has been'formerly worked to a great extcn*.,yielding large' quantities of excellent ore which was smelted in the oldFranklin Furnace. The New, Jersey Franklinite Company, organized in 1852_ is actively engaged in erecting furnaces and suitable build- ings within a few yards of the deposits, for the purposb of Smelting the ore_which will at the same time yield a'superior article of iron as well as thai oxide of zinc• One furnace is nearly completed, and will be put into operation in the course of a few weeks. The iron manufactured from the franklinite ore is of an excellent quality_ and peculiarly adapted to the production of the best kind of steel. There _are nlany.cit;- cumstances which render Franklin an admirable location for • the successful pa:osceutibn of an enterprise 5f this eliaracter. It not only furnishes an inexhaustible quantity of 0re_ but with the exception of fucl_ e_,'eryothei_article required in the manufacture of iron an(1 zinc. Building materials of every description, !ncludi|lg granite_ marble and sandstones; clay t for the production of bricks; limestone for plaster, masonry_ &c., are in abundance. In addit{on to all these advantages, nature has .here also furnished'a never-failing water-power, by which operations of every kind may be greatly facilitated.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 47 ¸

• SHELL _ARL--CALCAREOUS SINTER_CALCAREOUS TUFA_ TRAVERTII_'.

These terms are applied to deposits of lime fromsolution in water. They occur generally in spring_, ponds, shallow lakes and low marshy lands: Water holding carbonic acid gas in , solution, has the property of dissolving carbonate of lime, which !s deposited in the form of a fine powder, whenever the carbonic acid gas escapes. This gas is held in solution by rain Water; and many spring Waters, which, in percolating through limestone rocks, or in passing over their surface, dissolve a .portion of the lime, and carry it into ponds, lakes and marshes, where it is deposited in the form of a white calcareous powder. It is there absorbed.and secreted by testaceous animals,. Whose o_.ter covering, or shell, is thus formed. " In those situations where a large quantity of.calcareous .matter is held in solution, these small testaceous animals grow in great abundance, and live but a short time, their plaes_ being taken by other genet:ations, W ieb in t rn die; and thus large deposits arc formed, called shell marl. In those situations where but little calcareous matter is held in solution, new generations of testacea, in forming their own shells, consume those of prc- erhsting ones, and thus thd i'@iff accumulation of shells is re- tarded_ And, again, where a superfluous amouht 9f carbonate of lime is' held in solution, which, is very often the case in lin_estone districts, tJao lime is deposited.with thb testaceous " remains, which still more rapidly increases the deposits. ShalIow ponds, or lakes, where the deposition of shells and lime is rapidly carried on, finally become filled up to the water line;, so soon as the water passes ofl_ peat begins" to form, and by its annual growth 'and decay, a deposit of this material is quiclHy accumulated upon the marl. When in such cases, the peat begins to form on the surface, the testaeeous' animals do not cease to exist, but on the contrary, continue generation after generation to increase the deposit of marl under the peat, while at the same time the peat is continually

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 48

increasing upou the surface. It is in this form that extensive deposits of marl occur in tdmost every part of this county. NVherever such dcposi*tsh.ave been examined, they are usually found to rest upon a bed of clay, sand or grave!, and are suc- ceeded by muck or peat. At or near the junction of the'peat and marl, a layer of living testacea generally qecurs_,mingled. with the peat. From twenty-five to thi.rty inches below this, the livit_g animals disappear, their places being occupied by. their remains.i n a decomposed state. The shells most frequently found in these deposits are the Limuea _jugularis, Val- rata triearlnata , Cyclas .similis,.Planorbis biearifiata, aadlsomc other species. Spr!ngs holding a large quantity of lirae in Solution, some- t_mes deposit it on the surface in the form of a. loose porous. • mass. It often happens that twi_ and leaves are enveloped. in these deposits_ and their impressions thus p'reservecl in a. most beautiful and perfect manner. Such deposits are cal!ed calcareous sinter, "calcarcous tufa or traver_in. _xtens.ive de-: posits of calcareous sintcr and shell marl are found, in every • part of'this county, r£he"most important localities are i_ the' limestone districts. A largo deposit of shell marl is found along, the course of Chambers' Mill Brook, in Mon_gue( .Township on the farm of 'Isaac Bonnell, Esq: : This deposit, covers an area of i_romseventy-five to one hundred acres. It is situated in a low meadow or marshy land, surrounded by; limestone hills ; and this meadow has, at bus time, doubtless, been covered by a shallow lake or pond. Near the centre of the depesit_ an examination was made to the deptl_ of eighteen feet, giving the following section : . . Peat and muck 8 feet. Marl and. peat containing living testacea, 4 feet: : :Mp.rl/,very'fine, made up of decomposed shells, 11 feet: The.instrument not' being of sufficient length, the whole thickness of the depomt was not ascertaaned. In other places

where, extaminat. ions. :were mac_. e,thepeat was forbad t9 be from. five to tea feet in thickness; and from "six to ton feet from

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY : ,49

the surface, were fouhd, embedded the branches and trunks of .treesfrom one to two feet in diameter. _'.. Ca'the Lii.flo Flatkill, two miles southeast of the town of _ontaguc, upon the"property of I. Cole, Escl, is found auo. thor deposit, covering an area of fl_y acres. The peat rest. ing upon the mar!, is from four to six feet in thickness ; and the marl from six to eight feet, resting upon a becl of sand and gravel. On the f_m of.Mr. Isaiah Vaonctten, one mile and a half northeast.of Hainsville , is another:deposit covering an area of twenty acres, and overlaid by a. deposit of peat from three to eight'feet in thickness._ On ,the farm of Mr_Benja- min P. Van Syekle, in Sandiston Township, three miles northwest of Tuttlc's.Corner, and two miles southeast of Diogman's Fcrry_ is found a.dcpesit of calcareous sinter, covering an area of at least five acres. :It is exposed on either side of a small stream to the depth,of several feet. A well fifteen feet deep has been dug into it without passing through its whole extent. Though very hard: and compact upon the surface, it becomes softer and more pulverulent as it descends In it are found numerous nodules, or concretionary masses, w])ich have been formed by the deposition of the lime around a twig or some other substance as • nucleus for the aggregation of calcareous particles. _.'ho source of this deposit may. be traced to a epri'ng, ]_alfa mile distant, near the house of Mr. James Struble. This spring issues from the base ofdimestoee ridge, and empties • into a small reservoir or pond,-whence it passes to Mr. Van Syckle's land. In the bottom of this reservoir grows the Churn, a genus of aquatic plants. While growing atthe bottom of ponds and streams , it has a dark green color, but upon being removed and exposed directly to the atmosphcre_ it soon becomes white and crumbles to a fine powder con/posed chiefly 0f.the carbonate of lime. Large quantities of it are constantly forming at the bottom of this poad_ and it requires to be removed, from time to tim% in order to prevent the pond from being filled by, its rapi d accumulation. Another extensive deposit of calcareous sinter is found on the limestone slope at Dingman's Ferry, a little above the 4

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY F

"De]a_var_ 'River." It "_vers an...... exteh_lv6 arca_ and.i""s frb' m"'. fifteen to twenty.five feet in thick'hesse' _ n_ny b6'seefi b_ 'examining either sid_ of a small str_in passing'thrc_ugfi it 1 and from which the. ealcarcou_ matter' lins" l_een ,depesitcd. On the sarfact_, where it is exposed dir_etlj_.to the atmosphere_ it is _ery hard; mid emits a ringing sound viheh'strdCk"with. the hammer. A few'fe_t from the siarfaed it issot_ /rod "pul -_ verulent; and of a light gray color.- It contains numerous ,, . , * • . • * T! , : .. *' Beautiful and perfect lmpressmns of'leaves, .branches, etc. ' ".":Ia'_xhan_tible'quafitities of" m"arl.an;d eb."lcaroo_us s.|nter" " may be obtained.from the above localitie_ at "a eomparatii, ely tri: tting _xpen'se. _ ' '." ,, i .': '.: In the Kittatinny and Wallkili ValleyS, del_osits of raarl _e numerous. They are found so_,eral feet in thiekneL_s_ at the bottom of the lakes and ponds, mai'shes_',and meadow lands so abundant in these distridts. A very Common name for these Small collections of.yrater is "White Pond," of which several are so called in the county..This name is given to them on account of the dcpssits of shells distinctly _,isibI6 at their bottom. . ' " Peat and marl are found in abundance in "Vernon Town- ship, on Black Creek_ the meadows opposite the town of Yer-' non covering an area of several hundreds of acreS. The peat h_rc varies from four to fifteen feet in thickness and the marl from one to ten. Numerous other localities have been nbti_ed and will be referred to in a future report. Deposits of marl occur most generally in peaty meaclowd and marshes ; and in such places may be easily examined b)_ thrusting through the surface a pole or rod_ t_ which thd marl, if pr_sent_ will adhere. It may also be done by means of a spade or shovel; but the examination is sometimes to dious, on account of the presence' of water_ which often re- moves the marl from the pole_ or renders the use of the spade laborious. .An instrument admirably adapted to such exa_nx- nations has been employed during the i_hst ye_. It is so-con-

• _ _or analyses of specimens from each, nee tha,aaa_fod R¢pol4 of Mr, Wui-t£"

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ,p_r_.,_a _,_ La_..J_,_d.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 51

_/tructed that g qu_ntit:r" of peat, marl, soil, etc., m_y be taken from any depth without mixing it with the other materials "surrounding it. The accSrhpauying figures will give an idea of its construe-. tion : A B is tbe whole iastrumedt, sixteen feet in length.. A\ is its point or borer; B its handle. The point or beareri A, is twelve inches in length, and one inch and a half at its, greatest diameter.. It is formed of two half cylinders, an exterior_ a, and an interiol"_ b. They are so arranged that when put together i as at c, the exterior roils upon the interior_ causing the whole to presetit the form of a conical or tapering cylinder. The handle is made of strong wood, and in detached portions, four feet in length, which may be counected at plea- sure, by means of an iron band, as at d. Pl_he•object in.having the handle in detached portions is for convenience of trans- • portatlo_), and for increasing its length as eireumgauces may demand. The instrument being closed, as represented st /t. B, it is forced into the peat or marl to the depth at'which the examination is to be made; then by turning the handle to the right_ the pressure on tim exterior cylinder 9forces it behind the interior_ and in this manner the instrument is opened. It is then forced downward six or eight inehes_ or the length of the cylinder, when the hollow becomes filled. The handle being then turned towards the left, the cylinder enc]ose_ a portion of peat or other matter taken.from the spot where the instrument stopped. Its precise depth is indicatedby the number of fee_ and inches represented on the handle. +

USE OF SHELL MARL AS A MANURE.

In Europe_ as well as, in some parts of this country, shell marl has long been considered one of the most valuable of ' fertilizers. It not only possesses every property of llme in

* For a description of this instrument, from which it was made,I am indebted" to Leo Sesquereauz, of Columbus, Ohio, a gentlem_n who.has made extensive examinations of the peat and coal Inn& of Europe and this country,

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY its action upon soilS, but it very often contaifis ph6sphorib acid_ ammonia, organic matter, and ether'substances which increase its value. _ Its principal constituent, is' carbonate of lime, in the form of what is called "mild:lime," because frcu from that causticity which quicklime, slaked by water or air; possesses, and which is very often injurious to soils. Its pul- varulent state gives it an advantage over lime, for it simply requ!ras to be removed from the deposits and ,spread on the land, or oomposted with muck or peat, or exposed in heaps for a time, as circumstances may demand ; while lime, before it can be applied.to soils, must be quarried, burned, slaked i &c. It may be advautageously employed in certain forms and quantities, and under proper circumstaziees, t9 all soils. The quantity and form in which it should be applied'is indicated by the character of the soil. On peaty soilst or those which contain a large amount of vegetable matter_ it may be used in great quantities, either by spreading it broad cast, directly after taking it from its bcd_or after it has bedn"drawn to some convenient place and suffered to remain in heaps exposed to .the air, six or eight months ; or even after it has been burned :and slaked like limestone. I,_ the latter case it becomes caus- erielime, and should be used only upon soils Which contain a {great quautlty of inactive vegetable matter, as is often the case in low peaty lands, or where there is a large deposit of muck. Such lands are abundant in,Sussex County. They are •chiefly situated in springy places, on streams, etc., as the nu. ,merous peat and bog meadows on the 'Little and Big Flatkil], _the drowned lands on the Wallkill, the marshes and swamps •on the Paulinskill, Black and Papakating creeks, and, in fact, .on all the streams, large and small, in the county. There arc thousands of acres of such lands in this part of the State, lying perfectly useless, and in many cases generating malarious dis- eases, which, on being reclaimed by thorougl_ drainage and a free use of lime, would be deprived of their malarious poisons, .aud,rendered the most productive soils in the State. J "' _e analyBi5by Mr.Wurtz ia the annexed _pork

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY ' , In the use of lime as a' fertilizer, it may be established as a general rule, that it is only to such lahds that it should be applied in its caustic state.* . , _hel[ma_l_ either alone or eomposted with peat and muck, may be advantageously used in' large qaantities on clayey, sandy, and loamy soils. The principal object in composting it with peat and muck is, at the same time, to" add organic matter to the soil. If the soil contains already a sufficient quantity of organic matter in an active or proper state, it may bc applied alone. Its mechanical action on many soiIs, particularly on hardpan, or clayey soilsl rerldbring them morn pulverulent and open, is of great importance. It.may bead- vantageously employed upon polsonous soils. Copperas or sulphate of zrou renders laud sterile. Whenever a soil is derived from the debris of a rock wherein is found iron pyrites, (sulphuret of iron,) it will contain sulphate of iron, _tnd very often in sufficient quantities to destroy vegetation. An in. stance'of this was observed in Frankford Township, near the Z County Poor House. In its vicinity was a ridge of slate containing a large amount of pyrites, which, being very sof_ is cdnstantly undergoing decomposition, and forming sulphate of iron, and this is carried over the soil and mingled with it by the wash of'the ridge. , To a calcareous soil, or one which has been formed from the debris of limestone rock, it may 'be applied in small quantities alone I or eomp0sted with large quantities of vegetable matter. On the northwestern slope of' the Blue, or Kittatinny Moun- taifi, the course of the Little FJatkill is near the dividing line b/_.tweea the limestone of the Heldcrberg Series, and the red sandstone and shales of the Medina' Sandstone. The soil on th e limestone hills between the Little 1_'latkitl and the Delaware

• By caustic llme, is understood the hydrate of llme, or'that form produced by slaking freshly burned or'quick lime With water. Its caustic property iJ greatest directly after being slaked: Figaro that time the carbonic aeld of the at* mosphere, uniting with it_ drives off the water, and taking its place diminishes itseaustlporoperty.TMs actioncontinuesunt!lallt_e waterisdrivenofl_and itbecomescarbonateofllme,or mildlime.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 54

Ri_,eris chiefly of a loamy, calcareous nature, formed ,by, tKu disintegration of the various kinds of limestone and sandstone bowlders which arc very abundant over its surfaco. Ou the other side of the Little Flatkill, between it and the summit of the mountain, the soil is of a sandy nature and deficient in or: ganic matter. On this soil file shell marl, either alone or corn: posted, would be,of great advantage. On the other side of tho Kill it should be applied, as a general rule, in smaller quantities, together with vegetable matter.. Thus it will be seen that various circumstances, such as the nature and character of the soil, manner and form of application," &c., should guide us in the use of this material as a fertilizer; and when.all these things are properly considered, it will undoubtedly prove a • cheap and effectual means of enriching the soils of this'_county. It may be used to a certain extent in place of gypsum, of which there has been a great consumption hero. By referring .to the analyses of Mr. Wurtz in the annexed report, it will bc ,observed that this material, (sulphate of lime or gypsmn,) is ,sometirhes found as one of its constituents, lqo general rule ,can be given in regard to the quantity of marl which may .be applied per acre. This must depend on the various cir- ,eumstauees to which we have already, referred i as well .as on :the composition of the marl, its per ccntagu of carbonate of ,lime. "&c. Although this valuable fertilizer is found in such extensive :and accessible deposits in every part of the county, it has been .but very little used. This is doubtless owing to the'in, -.judicious manner in which trials of it have, from time to time, ,been made. On account of its great accessibility, and through ]gnorancc of its nature, it has been applied in such large quan- •titles as to destroy vegetation and render the soll sterile for a numJer of years. On tile property of Mr. James H. Strublc, in Sandiston Township, is a hurrcn spot. of land to which ,marl, or calcareous sinter, was applied eighteen years ago: Since this. time, as I was informed, no vegetables v/ould grow except when a heavy'coat of barn-yhrd manure, or vegetabld .matter, is applied to it, and th0n but 0nc luxuriant crop can.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 55 be obtained. This experiment not oniy proves the injurious effects of too largo a quantity of this material, but it also speaks volun_cs in its favor. It lifts been used by Mr. Van Syekle, ill this vieinity_ and by others in different 15artsof the ; country, with great success. These facts, togother with the high estimation in which it is held in the State of'New York, and wherever it has been ektensivelyand judiciodsly used, should be s_meient to dispel the prejudice so preva]e,t among .the .fitrmers of this coufity, that it acts as a poison to vegetation. I am_ Sir_ Your very obedient servant, ' WILLIAm" KITCHELL.

_ZWARgj N. d, January 15, 1855. - . :. : ¢ . .

. L

t. ,_

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY i ,

,REPORT i •OF PROFESSOR GEORGE.H. COOK,ASSISTANT GEOLOGIST.

J_s_ : DEAR SIR :--In pursuance Of my duty as .Assistant Geolo- gist, charged with the survey of the southern part of the State of :New Jersey, I respectfully submit the accompanying Re_ port. The instructions received were to .make a geological survey of the eastern half of Moumouth County, ahd report upon the same at the close of thepresent year• In acaordance with these, the survey has been prosecuted either in the field or in' the laboratory from July twenty-seventh to the present time. It has not yet been brought to a conclusion, but is in such condition that it can be completed at an early day. At the commencement of a survey of this kind, many of the examinations must be of a general character, and _uch as have a bearing upon all the work which is to follow. For this reason, while the main part of my examinations have 'been'made in the eastern part of the county, I have made one excursion to its western part, and another" entirely.across the State, and down to Salem. I trust that the work already done will be found useful, and that the foundation is laid for pros¢cutlng the survey with accuracy and dispatch. Very respectfully, • Your obedient servant, Gso. _H. Coo_. "RuTasaaCo_aa,/)ec_m_cr 30, 1854.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY .RERORT.

GENERAL REMARKS.

That part of New 5ersey which, in the Geological Survey, is assigned to the southern division, includes all that portion of the State lying south of a line:drawn from Staten Island Sound, near Elizabetllport, to the Delaware River, a little below Trenton. The line follows the southeastern border of the red shalesand sandstones which 'stretch across the central part 0fthe State. Its general direction is straight, and its bearing' •a little west of southwest. The extreme length of the district is 0ne hundred and ten miles; and its greatest breadth about seventy-five miles. Its area is estimated at not far from three thousand four hundred square miles. In it._physical geography, it is remarkable for its lack of hills, its sandy soil, its extensive pine woods, and for the almost entire absence of rocks. The Nevislnk Hills are three hundred and ten feet high, _ and a chain of hills of a somewhat less elevation extends from them in a westerly direction to Freehold. South of these the country seldom rises more than sixty feet above the level of the sea. .A belt of clayey or loamy soil, several miles in width, extends across the northern border of the district, and down the Delaware River to the bay; and streaks of clayey soil are generally found on one or the other of the banks of the streams

See Gordon% Gazeteer, p. 1.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 58 running into the Atlantic. With these exceptions.the soft is a light sand, and extensive tracts of it are still covered with pines and scrub' oaks. A kind of cemented gravel or puddlng-stonc_ firm enough •to beused for the commoner purposes of building, 'is found in some of tile higher hills, and thin layers of limestone, which can be burned irito lime, arc found in a few phmes; but solid beds of rock are nowhere met with. '_ "The whole of the district is toierably well watered ; but the streams are neither large nor rapid, and are ren_arl_able for the depth of tlieir beds, xvhic(i cause indeed, almogt the. only ineqnallties in its surface." "Most of the streams !lave crooked eou1"ses, and flowing through a fiat country, arc.commonly" navig_'thle some miles frorn their months. " Unlike the rivers of hilly countries, they are stescly in their volumes, and uniform su ) ,lies of water can be more'confidently relied Upon. ''a i] ere bc _,r hut tt e w ter power_'man'ufactarmg _s tot carried on to any couslderable extent. Deposits of bog iron ore are.found, and a small amount of iron is made fi'om them; and thex:e is an abundance of excellent sand for gl_ making_ whlcl_,.with the ch¢;apness of f_el_ has caused, the, establishment of.numerous glass-houses. The principal bus ncss of the inhabitants is agriculture. In this_ remarkable advance.s have forty years ago it was not worth .more than from i_ix to ten cents an acre. ' From this they have risen to an average price of six dollars an" acre." The following statemen't, Compiled mostly from ihe United States Census of 1850, shows nea:rly its present condition. t,See Gordon'sGazetteer,

i , i * • i

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 59 '

FARMS IN ACRES. • COUNTIES. _verh,.,nvatuo , II_[Jrove,L" U[l[nlprovetL |_er*_cre.

Third of Mercer,. 31.7./)3 7,196 $54 13 l=falf of Middlesex, . 57,969 '21,053 41 21 Monmouth, 145,739 82.440 50 40- Ocean, ...... 26,466 28,387 19 86 ]3urlington, . 132017 40,670 67 56 Camd(_n, , " . . . 53 968 77,416 35 40 Atlantic ...... 15,006 34,585 13 80 Gloucester, .... 68,810 52,897 37 37 Salem,' . . . . 105.056 38,942 45 88 Cumberland, .... 48 469, 71,640 22 10 Cape May, .... 14 310 37_653 15 87

Total, 700,503 492,885 /t.|eaTt 41 70

The following table, compiled from the same sources, will furnish data for comparison with the whole State_ and also with the neighboring States.

sTATEs• Area in I FARM_ IN ACRES. Aver_nre vaf,m ol ac_vL I Improved. enlmproved: Ikrms per acre.

Massach tlsettsj 4,640,000 2,133.436 1,222,571] Cotmectlcut, 3 040,000 I 1,768,178' 615 701 $33'20 5050 :New York, 29,440,000 I12408.9680,71n,12C 29 00 New Jersey,. 4,384,640 1.1,768,9911 984,95.5 43 67 Pennsylvaniaj 30,080,000 ] 8,628,619 6,294,728 27 33 Delaware,, 1,350_800 I 580,8(}2 375,282 10 75 Marylan(l, 7,040,000 I 2,7'97,905 1,836,445 18 81

In these tables the improved lands include only such as produced crops; the unimproved, such as did not proddee crops, but were connected with the farms. Unoccupied land is not included under either of these heads. A comparison of the first and second table shows, that while the value of the land in farms is a little less in the southern division than the aversgn of the whole State, it is still greater than that of any oflmr State mentioned, and it is greater than that of any other State in the Union, I have no$

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY r

been able to ascertain the areas of the counties separately, and • cannot give the amount of land in farms, _eompared with that still unoccupied..But if wo suppose one half of the State to be in tlle southern division, a little moro than' one half its area must be in farms, which is less than, in Massachusetts, , Connecticut, New York, and the northern half of New Jer- sey; and greater than in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Mary- !anO. .Theclhna_ismildorevenwarm,andtheearl_springsand, light soils enable the farmem to furnish the first_.'supplles"of garden produce to the markets of New York and Philadelphia_ and a largo part of such supplies for those citieh is drawn from New Jersey. Of other crops, Indian corn and potatoes are raised iu largest.quantlties. Wheat, rye, oats, and Sweet potatoes arc cxtcnsively cultivated. The amount of liyo stock is. much above the average of our country. The rapid advance of agriculture in this dtstrmt is due in part to its location, in part to the improvement Of the country generally, but more is to bo ascribed to the use 9f a kind of marl wliieh is foun_t here in immense quantity. "The belt or strip of land under which this is found lies obliquely _eross the State from. Sandy HOok Bay southwestto Salem. Its length• is about ninc.ty miles, aml its breadth fourteen miles at its eastern extremity, and six miles at its westerm Its area is nine hundred,square miles, or five hundred and seventy-six thousaml acres; and its benefits are slmred by a considerable district of country lylng'on each side of it, so that the whole area improved by it is swelled conSideratJly beyond the above amount..It has been worth millions of dollam to the State in the increased value of the land and produce, besides the influence it'h'as exerted in .awakening and fostering a spirit for agricultural improvement. Requiring labor and not r_oney " from tii0se who would enjoy its. benefits, it has been found admirably adapted to encourage and reward enterprisixig it/- dustry; , L ' : : The atte.ntiou of men of soien_ has been f/'equently called to.this int_resting.i;ormation On account.of its value in ag_bul-.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 61, ture_ and also.for i_numereu_ .and remarlkable fossils; bones, shells, sharks' teeth,'&e., being common in .it. Its geological character was first distinctly shown by Professor L. Vanuxem, Dr. Morton, and Mr. Conrad, Ofphiladelphia, in eighteen hundred and twenty.seven. In eighteen hundred and thirty-five, the legislature ordered a geological survey of the State to be made. This was done by Professor H. D. Rogers, and his final report was presented in eighteen hundred and forty. Thisre- port included avery full account of the marl, both geological and chemical. Numbers of analyses ofthe varieties of it have been made by other chemists; some of these arc important, and will be referred to again. Under such cireumsmness, the present examination w.as'entered upon with a good deal of distrust ; and nothing but a knowledge that the openings into the marl were much more numerous and extensive than when Professor Rogers dosed his survey, and that thus an opportunity for study was new presented which was not then available, could have induced an attempt to re-examine what had already been so walt done."

DESCRIPTIVE GEOLOGY. _

From examinations in the field, the following facts are proved :-- • 1. The clays and marls, which constitute the basis of most of this part of the State, are in regular and continuous layers. 2. These layers are not level, 13utincline or di/_towards the southeast. They hav.e boca observed to descend from twenty to fifty feet in a mile. 8. Since these layers were formed, the action of water, or other eauses_has worn away and changed the surface of the country. In passing across the country.from the north towards the south, we come upon the different layers in orderly succession ; in examining the pits which have been opened for marl, the suec.ssive layers are always found in.the same order ; exami-

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 62 i

nation's upon the Sides of hill*, s where• . they have beeh," I cut into, show the same order that is found m the lower'grounds t6 the south of them ; and the same fact is Observed in the banks of streams which cut thrbugb the layers. • _ , " t From the fossils'foundqn these beds geologists have determined that the marls and the clays north of them, ar/d between them and the red sandstone, belong to.the cretaceous or chalk formati0n,_ and that the beds on the so'utherrt border of the. . marl belong to the tcrtiffry. _The sands and some.of the.clays south Ofthese, are prbbably of more recent origin• ". . The general principles stated above, are all exemplified in Eastern Monmouth i the clays are'found.on its north side, the marls across the centre, and the sands on the southern side•

I. The clays occupy the county between the northwest.line of the county and the northern sides of the hills Which extend from the Nevisink to Mount Pleasant, and on to near English- town. On the 'shores of Sandy Hook and Rarltan Bay,.the clay is thickly covered with sand. In the "_alleys between some of the" hills mentioned, it extends considerably further south. It is almbst black when wet, but is gray When dry. It contains a good deal of mieaceous, sand. The trunks and branches cf trees, in the form of lignite, arc found in it in great quantities, and frequently_associated with sulphuret and t sulphate of iron Irregular streaks of green marl are also found m lt;'m some places enough to make it valuable as a manure. Characteristic fossils are also found. Thd examinations made thus far have not been sufficient to furn!sh'preeise d.eseriptions 0f the position 0r' qualities 9f the different layers or even. of the beds of this stratum. • 'II." The marls are found in various parts of the country from the south line of the ela_s to a line drawn from the At-

i '. * A "formation," in geology, ia "that eolhetiov, or assemblage of beds or

vayen, strata Ior,, portions• of, earth or mmerals,, /vhieh seem to have'ibeen. ,"formed° . at he same epoch,.and to have the same general character8 of composition and lodgffment," (Webster.) In this report I will use theterms stratum, bed, and it Jt lhyel_,for tha sneee_sivesubdivision_ ' thus dividing tha formation into strata, each erratum into "bedB," and each I?edinto "layere."

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 63

lantic sbol:e,, near Great Pond, _n Deal I t()" the Manas(tuan River) between Upper and LOwer Squankum. The substance here called marl, is 'not the ordinary talcu- m'consotay or earth_ which is distinguished by its light color and its effervescence with acids, but is a kind :of. earth, mostof which is in little rounded grains, about tlm size of.fine gun- powder; its eolor is usually some shade of green; the crushed grains are always green ; and they arc so soft that they can easily be crushed on_ the nail ; they scarcely effervesce.with adds. Besides the grains in the marl, there is generally a little white sand and some clay ; the la.tter being of various shades of black, brown, drab, or green, and so mixed in as to . give color to the whole ; great numbers of shells are found in some of the layem i these of course cause the marl to effervesce. The marl grains are known in geol%-_¢ as greensand. • Though the whole series of beds which is exposeci in the district now under examination, is called the m'drlstratum) yet " marl grains arc not found in all the beds, some of them consisting entirely of sand, and others of clay. There ai'e three distinct beds of marl.in the stratum: the first includes those found north of the north branch of Shrews- bury :River, Swimming :River, and Yellow Brook ; also those found on the head waters of South :River, north of Freehold. A few pits have also been opened below tide level' at Red Bank. The second includes those near the head of the south branch of Shrewsbury'River; those near Eatontown ; those along the valley of Hockhoekson Brook, above Tinton Falls ; those a little south of Colt's N_ck" Village; those 'aboht a mile and a half south of Freehold, arid those sduth of Blue Ball; it also 4u_ludes the yellow marls south of Eatentown and about Long Br_heh ; the sarr_e bed is'also found near the tops of the hills' south of :Red Bank and that south of the Phalanx Dwellings, and I think in some' of the highest points of the Ne'_q.sink Hills. " The third bed includes the marls of Deal)' Poplar) Shark River, and Squ_nkum. The bed of yellow ferruginous sand'which is _o eonspieu. dun a feature in the soil of the Nevi_inks)at Red .Bank) at

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 64. -

Colt's NeCk, and indeed entirely across the State, lies 'between the first and second beds of marl• , .... i . ....' • _':A bed much resembling beach .sand, witll a very fewmarl grains scattered through it, lies between tt!c second a_l third marl beds. t • : The several beds of marl are each made up of distinct layers, which vary in appearance and in properties. ' . _, In the first bed five distinet layers may be recognised. : • 1. A layer of sand and fine gravel, from; two to four or more feet in thickness. This is very distlnetly sepurp.ted frbm the clay which lies immediately under it. It contains numej- rous fossils, a considerable proportigu of marl grainsj and i8 valuable as a manure. It is known as' sand marl. ' , . , • 2. A layer, of nearly pure marl grains_ of variable .thick: hess, averaging perhaps four feet.. A little blackis h clay is mixed with the marl, from which it is generally known as $lack:_arl. It contains but few, fossils. As a manure it is highly prized. Though always found, it is, not .very. disr tinctIy separated from the next layer. _ • :, • 8..A_ layer of from twelve to sixteeu feet in:thickness, known as/,lue or g_y marl, from its containing a considerable amount of a drab colored clays inclining to bluish or grayish_ It has numbers of very large and heavy oyster shells in it-_ generally there is a streak from eight inches to two feet thick, which:is almost solid with _bells. "This layer is very highly prized as a quick and lasting.fertilizer. It changes gradually into the one next above. . _ . 4. Three or:four feet of black _arl, almost exactly liko that of No. 2. It is not found distinedy'marked in all p]aees, 5. Dark colored marl six or eight feet thick, containing fewer and fewer of the marl grains in its higher parts, and at last only to be dlstinguished,from the dark elay!iutp which it runs, by the thin flaky shells scattered through it. '. :".. ',. • The thickness of this bed of marl is at lea_t thirty feet. The whole can be seen m the side of the lq'evi_ink. Hills. on the shore of Sandy Hook Bay. They have all_been passed through in the pits of'the North .American ;Phalanx, and. Mr.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY o

William Hartshorne had them boredthrough for me in his pits_ north of Freehold. All except the top layer is well exposed in the pits of Win. Conover, near Marlboro'. And they can be seen in succession, by passing along the valleys of any of the streams which run through the marl, as the Spottswood north and south branches of South Rivcr_ and in the Hop Brook from Taylor's Mill to Marlboro'. 0 The following circumstances may produce a little difficulty_ at first, in verifying the preceding statements. Whenever the clay, which lies immediately over this bed of marl, has been worn away, and the marl lies above the bed of neighboring streams, the rains and surface water penetrate it, to a greater or less depth, and leach off; dissolving out the fossils and leav. ing earth in their places ; changing its color to a rusty red ; and forming numerous flaky crusts, or sometimes strong cakes of impure oxide of iron, in it. • Such n_aris are called dry bank or hill marls. These changes have taken place to a much greater extent in some localities than in others. Marls _vhich lie so as not to be subject to the action of surface water, or dralnagc_ arc called wet basle or meadow marls. The characteristicfossils of this bed arc Exogyra eostata, Gryph_ca convcxa, Ostrca faleata, Terebratula sayii and Be- lemnites amcricanua A great many others are found, but they.at6 not so numerous and not so generally present in all localities. Lying immediately upon the bed of marl which has just been described, and not separated from it by any well marked divlsion_ is a layer of black clay. It contains scales of mica and grains of sand. In small quantities it cannot easily be distinguished from the clay of the stratum bclo_rthe marl. It frequently contains sulphate of iron (cet_peras); and being often mistaken for marl has been used to the injury of the farmer. When composted with quicklime it is tllought to he useful. It _sfrom ten to twenty feet thick, o The red or fcrruginoussand lies upon the clay just mentioned. It is separated from it by a well marked line of di- "vision. This bed is of {_at thieknesa_ not less than one 5

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 66

htindrcd feet at Red Bank, and in the lffevisinks iit is equally .. thick. Whenever this sand has any degree of firmness it is full of the impressions and casts of shells and ,other fossils. The lower part of this bed is a very friable sand i towards its upper part a gi'cenish clay is found mixed with the sand, giving to it a good degree of firmness; the rock at Tinton Falls is an oxampte of this. The.uppar part of this bed, from four to six feet,'is a l_yer of greenish indurated clay, in some places hard enwagh to be called a rock. It slakes on exposure to the weather. No marl grains are found in it; but i_ is called.marl ' by rainy farmers, and is profitably used as such .... The _econd bed of marl is not so extensively developed in • this part of the country as the first elan; though it' is considerably thicker. Its several layers may be described as fol -_ . lows :-- 1. A layer of marl containing but very f_w fossils; its lower part almost clean grains; clay is mixed With.the grains in the'upper part, in many localities. The colo_.ofthe grains in this layer, and indeed in the whole bed, isl green with a shade-of yellow, unlike those in the first bed_ in which the color is green, with a shade of black or dark blue. I have not in any place in this part of'the county found the layer worked more than fourteen.feet, though I believe it to be much thicker. In the pits of Mr. Imlay, on Crosswicks Greek, a short distance below lqew Egypt, it is nearly twenty-five feet. 2. 2k layer of from ten to fourteen feet of marl, with nu- ". merous shells. A streak in'the uppcr part of tt_is, for two or three feet, is almost solid with shells of the T erebratula hat. lani;'and another layer near the bottom of it is cqually solid with shells of the Gryphaea convexa. This layer gradually loses its marl grains, at the upper part; and runs into 3. 2k layer of broken shells with more or less sand.inter- mixed, and containing scarcely any marl grain_.. The color of this marl is yellow or g_ay. In the neighborhood of'Eaton- town it is called yellow _narl.. No localities have been visited in Eastern Monmouth where it has been penetrated more than fourteen feet, but, near Salem it has been opened for more than twenty feet.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 67 J • ¢ There are no good localities where all these layers are to be seen together. The nearest approach to it is in the pits of Mr. Strickland_ near Bluc Ball, where the top of the first, the whole of the second, and the bottom of the third .layers are shown. The meeting of this bed and the clay of the sand bed ufldsr it is well shown in the marl pits .of J. S. Trafford, Daniel Polhcmus, and John S. Cooke, above Tinton Falls. Also in the pits of Mr. Lafctra and Mr. Lippincott, on the north side of Parker's Creek, near Eatontown. .The yellow marl is dug near the Turtle Mill at Long Branch. Also by Dr. Lewis and others, of Eatontown. The bottom of Edward Wolcott's * marl, near the latter place, cannot be distlnguishcd from the top of $triekland's. A-large number of species of fossils arc found in thesc different layers. Thosc mentioned under (2) are the most common and characteristic: The Gryphaea convexa of this bed is much smaller and thinner than that found in the first. The bed of sand between the second and third beds of marl has nSthing remarkable about it, except the grains of marl scattered through it. Its meeting with the top of the second bed is not known to have been found. It can be sccn under the third bed in the pit of Elisha West, of Deal, that of Rullef Vandevccr, of Poplar, that of Thomas Longstrcet, of Squankum, and it is said under that of John Shafto, of $hark.'River.. The bed itself has been opened near Elisha West's, in Deal, and the'sand used as a fertilizer on account of the marl grains in it. It be.'trsa striking resemblance to the beach sand of" thc'neighborhood which has also been used for the same pur- • . pose. No opportunity has occurred for measuring the thickness of this bed, but from the inclination of the beds above and below, it may be estimated at not less than thirty feet. The third "_edof marl may be described as consisting of three layers, as follows :-- 1. Twenty feet of green marl. This contains a considerable percentage of greenish clay : it is distinguished as a quick and powerful fertilizer ; the. mo_t noted marls of Squankum,. Shark River, Poplar, and Deal are from this layer•

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 68

2. Fifteen or twenty feet_ofa pale greenish clay or earth. No marl grains are found in this layer, though it is called marl and possesses active properties as a manure. _, It is flaky in ,. its structure, and when exposed to the air fad_s to a light ash color. 3. From five tofifteen fester the above day_ largelymix_d With marl grains. • The last named layer is opened to the greatest thickness in the pits of Jacob White_ Peter Drummond and Amos White, in Deal ; in that of O. F. Fettit, Shark River, and in that" of J. S. Furman, near Lower Squankum, it is not so thick. In all these it can be seen running into the layer next below. There arc no localities where all these'layers can be seen in a single plat% but they can be seen in succession in nu_nbers of places, as in the pits of Elisha West_ G. Hendrieksen and ThOmas Burden_ of Deal ; in those of J. Shafto_ H. Hurley_ G. Shafm, and J-. L. Tilton, of Shark' River_ and in those of T. Longstrcct_ T. Weeks_ and J. S: Forman, of Squankum. Fossils are not very abundant in this bed.. A few*casts, and still more rarely shells, have been found in the lower layer ; it is not known that any have been found in the middle layer ; in the upper, casts and impressions of shells arc found. They have not been examined with sufficient careto determine the species ; they are, however_ entirely different from those of the two lower beds. The accompanying sections across the marl stratum, show _thcpositions of the several beds. The scale of distances is two miles to one inch. The scale of heights about 400 feet t_)an inch= the heights_ however, have not been accurately measured. These sections arc taken at .right angles to the stratum. "_Inaddition to showing the positions of the several beds, they also exhibit the effects of peculiar configurations of sur. t'aoe on the extent of.the marl bed exposed : thcs though the ,same beds are shown in each of the three section_ the amount of marl at the surfaceappears to be quite different in the same bed as seen in the different:sectional views. The first bed ap-

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY '1:J_i_rllen 1 J. Whit_ I

C..Ilendriekson O.F.I'ettil. 'IrS,_"(IP]"[III / 6. Sharl++. d,IPAil.it._ Ie,.Wesl ,J.'l_We(_ks •I. SIIal'h-L ll,llerborl "ZI,lin_lrl!d

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 69 o pears three or four times as extensive in the Second and third sections as in the first.

HI. The sand§ which form a strip along the southern border of this. county join the marls in a very irregular line, ridges of them extending up almost to the middle of the county, while in the valleys of the streams, the marl comes to the surface several miles further south. They have not yet been examined with sufficient care to render it necessary to make any report upon them. The interest felt in the marl stratum by a very large portion of the inhabitants of Monmouth, has induced me to devote most of the time, thus far, to ascertaining and systematizing facts relating to it. The examinations of the clay stratum and of the sands promise to be of much practical utility, though the soils where they occur have not yet been brought to the high state of cultivation of the marl region, and they are generally thought of less value. The regular order of occurrence of the different beds of marl in the district surveyed led to a desire to examine their relative position in the southwestern part of the State. For this purpose the stratum was crossed from Allentown to New Egypt_ and ag_finin the vicinity of Salem, and the same order of succession of beds was found. The marl pits of N. Woodward, at Cream Ridge, belongto the flint bed: The ridge itself is part of the ferruginous sand bed, The pits at Hornerstown, and those of Mr. Imlay and Mr. Horner, near New Egypt, are in the second bed; so also" are the gray marls, such _s those in Governor Fort's pit. The pits of Mr. Irons, south of New Egypt, and others from there on to Poke Hill, in Burlington County, belong to the lowest layer of the third bed_ The upper layers have not been found in that vicinity. The marls in Salem Co{mty, "at Mannington Hill and at Woodstown, belong to the second bed. At Battsn's Mill, above Swedesboro', the first marl bed is seen. The ferruginous sand hes between the two. The third bed has noh to my

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY o 7O

kl/owledge, been found in Salem County. The marl :/t Mul- lion Hill belongs to t!m second bed. William H. Snowden i of that village, showed me a collection of tertiary shells from a locality about two miles south or southcast 'from there_ and among these ;,yore some caste of sh_lls of the same species with those found •in the lower layer of the third bQd. I hear that he has since found the bed containing those characteristic fossils. From the report of Professor J. C. Booth on the Geology of Dclaw_e, it appears that at least two of these beds are found in that State. The stratum is known to extend into the States farther south. The Lusty examination given to the different beds west of Freehold, does not enable mc to decide whether they retain the same thickness, or whether the first and tliird beds grow thinner towards the southwest: They arc not._s well exposed or as extensively worked ; the greater portio_ of all that is used, being taken from the seccfid bed. Other Causes than the thickness, however, affect the amount of their exposure. For example, the increased breadth of the marl stratum on the eastern side of the State is partly due to its northern bor(tcr being on clcvatcd ground and its _dip towards the southeast only a little more than the slope of the' country in that direction ; while on the western side of the State, Ithc stratum is diminished in width from its northern, border being on low ground and its dip to the southeast, contrary to the surface of the country, which rises in that direction. "The several beds ,'fro much bettor exposed in a rolling country than in one, that is even or fiat; thus, in the district_ surveyedj the first bed, though thinner than either of the othess_ is by_far more exposed than both of them together. The country in which it occurs is uneven and hilly ; the marl may then be found either in the valleys ok the side hills_ and these are so ,common that almost every farm has a marl pit on it, and in some a pit _is opened in every field. The country is much mpre even and level where the second and third beds-are found_ the valleys of the streams making almost the only inequalities of the surface,

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 71

and it is in these principally that the marls are dug. The practice ill this respect is so uniform that many persons suppose they arc only to be found in the valleys of streams. A knowledge of the fact that t'he beds are to be found on high as well as on low ground, that they continue nearly uniform in quality and thickness in straight lines across the State, and that they descend towards the southeast with a very regular slope, _yill, it is hoped, lead to a more general opening of pits in neighborhoods where marl is not now l_ownto exist. - :Marls have been carted long distances, and deposited on lands which were underlaid by marl, and such, from my own obsarvation_ I am satisfied is still being done in many places. In addition to the advantages to the farmer from having an abundant supply of marl close at hand the value of good marl pits should be taken into the account..Pits ten feet square_ and as deep as the purchaser chooses to dig th0m, are sold for from five to seven dollars. An acre contains forty-three thousand five hundred and sixty square feet, or more than four hundred and thil;ty- five such pits, \vorth, at the lower pricc, two fllousand one "hundred and seventy-five dollars, and at the hight1" price, " three thousand and forty-five dollars. Such 'lands arc worth scamhing for, and, if the work is judiciously done, they will be found. The following directions may aid in making examinations. _ Knowing tight the general direction of the beds is a little west of southwest_ a linp traced in that direction from any pit already opcned_ will continue on the same bed. Or a line run between tw:o pits of the same bed 7 will continue on the same throughout. Searches hy digging down or by boring may be

Boring_ for marl can be easiIy made with n common auger; au inch and a half one is large enough. Its shank may be lengflmned a_ much as is required by welding on a rod. The handle should be made to slide on this rod, and fasten with a set-screw or wedge. The anger needs raising every few inches to clear it, and to examine the material penetrated, some of which will be found sticking in the twist of the instrument, With such an auger, a hole from ten to twenty feet deep can be made in r_few minutes.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 72"

made anywhere on such lines ; the lowest ground will usually have the least thickness of soil or' top dirt. If this dirt is found too thick for profitable working, other places may be tried, for the marl is.worn or. gullied in its upper surface some: times, and the best points for opening may not be hit at the first trial; If the lines are run over uneven ground, allowance must be made for the dip or descent _)f the beds, which is towards the southeast, had at the rate. of from twenty to fifty feet a mile. This dip will cause bedslto appear further to the northwest !fthe ground is higherp and to the southeast if it is lower than that started from.

COHFCSITION OF THE _ARL, AND TEE CAUSE OF ITS FERTIL- IZING ACTIObr.

The value of this deposit as a manure, and the surprising influence ,it has upon the agriculture? of a large district of country, have drawn the attention of scientific farmers and chemists to its composition. Mr. Seybert_ of Philadelphia, made a careful analysis of this marl, which was published in 1822, in the second edition of Cl.eaveland's Mineralogy. He foundLten per cent. of potash in it. James Piaree_:Esq.,examined the ma_l beds of New Jersey, and published an interesting account of them in Silliman*s Journal, Volume VI., page 237, in 1823. He attributes the virtue of marl principally to its shells and other calcareous ingredients. Dr. R. Harlan, in a paper containing remarks on the Ge- ology of West Jersey, in Volume IV i p_ge 15, of the Trans- actions of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, in 1824_attributed its value in some cases to its fossil shells, in others to the iron pyrites .in it_ and in still others to the clay which it contained. A paper on the same subjeet_ Volume ._I, page 59_Trans-

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY t/S . I

actions of the same Society, in 1828, by Professor Lardner Vanuxem, says, "the marl of New Jersey and Delaware appears to owe its fertilizing property to a small quantity of iron pyrites (v_hieh passes to sulphate of iron by exposure to the air), and also to animal matter, to its color, and to its effect when mixed with sand, of diminishing the calorific conducting power of the latter." Prof. Rogers, in his Gcologisal Report of New Jersey_ con- siders that there is abundant evidence "to prove that the true fertilizing principle in marl is not llme but/_otash." - Prof. J. F. W. Johnston, in his Notes on North Amcriea_ made in 1850, Volume if., page 808, says, that on analyzing some of the green grains and sand, he found "from one to one and a half per cent. of phosphate of lime," and to this he attributes its fertilizing power. In the Working Farmer for April 1', 1853, are several analyses of marl by Dr. Charles Enderlin, of New York. His specimens were from the pits of the North American Pha- lanx. He foufid two and a half per cent. of phosphate of lime in one specimen. He also found that. the alkali was not all potash, but part soda. The fact of soda being a constituent of the marl was published in Silliman's Journal, second series, Volume IX., page 8S, for 1850, from an analysis by William Fisl_er. Numerous .other references might be given, but the above are enough to show that the question is still an interesting one. The following analyses show the principal constituents. Sulphates of iron, lime and alumina _phosphates of iron and lime, chloride of sodium, organic matter, &c., which can be detected in it in small quantities, will.not materially affect the proportions of the principal substances. The first (1) is the analysis made by Mr. Seybert, the second (2) is the average given by Professor Rogers_ and the third (3) is the analysis made.by Mr.. Fisher.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 7_

(t) (2) _8) Silex, . 49.83 48.50 53.26 Alumina_ . . 6.00 7.30 3.85 Protoxid of iron, oi.53 22.80 24.15 . Potash, . 10.12 11.50 5.36 Soda, . 1.60 Lime, . .50 or less. 1.73 _,Iagnesia, . 1.83' . traoe. 1.10 Water_ . . 9.80 7.90 10.12

Loss, .89 I 100.00 99,50, 101.17

The preceding statements and analytical results Show that the subject is by no means u plain one. To me it is one of deep interest, and I have taken every pains to inform myself upon the practical agriculture of the district, and the influence which marl has exerted in bring'ing it to its present high Con. dition. With this knowledge my chemical examinations hav6 been conducted, but they are not yet in suc h a state of for- wardness as to be presented complete. Z. f_w approximate • results will be given. In the.following table the amounts of phosphoric acid" and ,lime are given, in the fim_ and second columns. They are averages from several analyses of specimens from diff&ent pits. The third and fourth columns give the _nount of phos- ph.3te and carbonate of llme. The phosphate is calculated from the phosphoric acid, and it probably exists in the marl in this form. The'only doubt of it arises from the fact that phgsphate of iron is a common mineral in this Stratum. Care- ful examinations have not been made to determine the amount_ of potash and soda ; enough, he,rover, has beeh done to show that they are always present, bud constituting fi'om five to ten per cent. of the whole.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 75

Percentage of .Phosphoric Acld,'Zime, 2ho_phate of £ime, a_ Carbonate o.fLirae_ in ma_"lsfrom the different layers.

' fBED. LAYER. PAhciodto,. Limo,[ I PLihog.me. CaLimrbe.. l

I. Sand marl, 0.76 1.00 _ 1.55 0.37

3: Blue or gray marl, 1.14 8.50 2.33 13.04 1. 2.4. BlackTop marlmarl,, 0.000.63 71.50.23 ] 1.290.00 121.50.91

For. Sand Green clay, 1.20 1.65 2.'2.5 0.71

1. Grain marl, 0.76 0.90 1.55 0.19 2. 2. Green m_rl and shells, 10.20 18.21 3. Shells, yellow marl, 0.00 27:44 0.00 40.00

• 1. Green marl, 2.80 _.40 5.71 0.00 White mar], 0.78 1.50 1.59 1.23 3.. 13. Blue marl, 1".04 1.70 2.13 1.09 • Dry-Bank'marl. 1.14 0.30 0.00 1.39 0.50 0.00

The results presented agree, generally, with the experience of farmers. The marl containing the largest amount of"phosphate of lime, is the first layer of the third bed ; the green marl of Squanl_Im, ])eal, Shark River and Poplar. It is noted for quick and powerful action when applied in light dressings; from five to twenty loads on an acre produce good effects, and it is sometimes used in even smaller quantities, t'_o. 3 of the first bed kswell known as an excellent marl. From one hundred to two hundred loads are commonly applied to an acre, and such dressings, last fifteen or twenty years. It will be observed that thi_ layer contains less phosphate, but much more carbonate of lime than the one just mentioned; and probably this ksthe cause of its more permanent action. The first layer of the second bed seems, from the analysis, to be much better than practice has found it. The difference may be owing to the coarseness and cleanness of its grains, for when mixed with quicklime and appficd to the soil, it produces cx-

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 76 cellent effects. The dry-bank marls, it will be'observed, are deficient in lime; phosphoric acid is found _in them in the usual amount. These specimens were from the first bed, and probably the third layer. They have usually been thought equal to the wet.bank marls of the same bed, for a short time, but to wear out sooner. Other comparisons will suggest themselves to the minds of inquiring farmers.

_l POISON n OR ¢1BURlCING _1 _IAR_S.

Marls arc found in all parts of the stratum_which are said tobe burning or po/_on in their properties; so ,much so as to destroy vegetation. In some eases where they have been freely applied to the soil: they have destroyed its fertility for years. These marls are not confined to any particular layer or bed, but arc found in spots or patches in all of them. The dark clays above and below the first marl bed also possess the same properties_and being frequently mistaken forgenuine marls, have done serious injury to crops upon which they have been applied. The same is true of the brownish clay, called rotten stone, which is found on top of any of th0 la2(ers of the ' third bed. In all these cases the injurious effect is due to sulphate of iron (copperas),or to that substance mixed with sulphate of alumina (a kind of alum). The latter substance is not near as common as the former. Eiflmr of them can be easily distinguished by the taste; the copperas is well known by its astringent, inky taste; the other by the taste of alum. When marls, or earths containing them, arc exposed to the air, yellowish white incrustations of these salts form oa their sur- faces. If other tests are desircd_ take some of the marl and boil it in two or three times its weight of Water, in a clean earthen or porcelain dish ; then strain thetwater Clearfrom the marl. The copperas and alum wi!l be in solution in the water. If some of this Water is poured into strong tea_ it will turn it black ; if poured into lime water it turns it a dirty white ; and if added to the blue liquid made by pouring hot water on

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY leaves of red cabbage, the color is changed to a red. If aqua ammonia (hartshorn) is poured into it_ there is a reddish or greenish sediment formed. Professor Rogers, in his report, recommended that such marls be exposed to the weether some time before using, that the copperas and alum might leach out. As a still better 'method, he recommended composting them with quicklime, using perhaps a bushel of.lime to a hundred bushels of marl. Wherever this remedy has been tried it has been found effectual, and upon soils which have been injured by the application of such marls it has restored their fertility. It is not so generally practised as it ought to be, most farmers thinking it cheaper to get marl from beds not contaminated with these substances. The action of the lime upon the copperas pro- duec_2/azter , but this is already in the marl, as is shown by its forming a white crust or powder on the surface of marls which are:exposed to the open air, as well as by the sparkling little crystals of it which may be seen in many cases.' :Plaster is'not generjflly found to produce any effect upon soils which are well marled. Still the use of lime with those marls cannot be too strongly recommended, the very fact that copperas and alum are present proving a want of.lime, and whenever there ;is a sufficient amount of quicklime, or of carbonate of lime, in a mar]_these substances cannot exist. The use of lime too may give activity to marls, .which by themselves are almost valueless,'causing the grains to cnimble and give up their fertilizing constituents to the growing crops. Wells which are sunk in the marls frequendy contain so much of tho copperas and alum in their waters, as to be unfit for making tea or coffee, turning the tea black. A little sale- ratus or peurlash, or even woodashes, boiled in the tea-kettle with the water, corrects this. As directed, specimens have been taken from all the layers which have been cyaniC.ned,and from those of the marl, great numbem from different pits in the same bed. The collection of fossils is not as complete as is desirable----such an one requiring more time than it has been possible to devote to it.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY A large number has been collected, however, and for many. more the survey is indebted to the generosity of friends. Valuable and interesting spccimcns of fossil, bones_ tecth, shells, &c.,have been received from Capt. T. Weeks of Squan- kum, Mr..W. Lippincott of Shrewsbury, Mr. J; S. Cooke and Mr. I_o!hemus of Tinton Falls, Mr. G. T. Mat.thews. 9f Colt's Neck, Mr. Azariah Conover of Middletown, Rev. Mr. Riley and Mr. H. G..Cooke of tIoln_dcl, and Mr. _V. tlartshorne of Freehold. Some remarkably fine specimcns of crystallized phosphatc of iron were presented by Mr. P. Laf_tra of Shrews- btiry. The greatest liberality has been shown in regard to specimens, and the collection by donation would have been much larger, had care boca previously taken tO.lOrcscrvetl_em. It is hoped that the donations will be muctl greater the coming season, when it.becomes known that as largo a°col- lcction as possible is desirable to illustrate the geology of the State. Important service can_in this respect, be rendered to the survey. In studying out the position and peculiarities of the'varidus beds of marl, grcat assistanc_ has been received from gentle- men rcsidlng, in the. county. All have _villingly furnished any information rcquii'ed., Espccial notice is :due to Mr. W. H. Hendrickson and Mr. G. C. Murray of Middletown! Roy. G. C.-Schcnck of Marlboro', Mr. C.'Sea m of tlio Phalanx, Mr. 3-.S. Cooke of Tinton Falls, Roy. Mr. Finch of Shrewsbur/g, t and Mr. W. tIartshorno of Frechold. Also,. to Hen. W. W. Newell of Allentown, and Ex-Governor Fort 5rid Mr. Thomas B. Jobs of New Egypt, Ocearl County, and tb Messrs. David and J. 3-.Pcttit of Manning'ton, and Dr. D. M. Davis of Woods- towp_ Salem County. . . , GEORGEtI. COOK.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 'REPORT

OF HENRY WURTZ, CHEMIST .AND _[IhrERALOGIST.

_EW JERSEY _rATE LAB0nATOI_Y_ ! Trenton, January Dr, 1855.

To .Dr. WiUiam _itehell, Stato Geologie_( SI_:--On entering upon the duties of r_y appointment on the first dky of ]-qovcmbcr last, my first care.was to select u suitable place for a laboratory, in which to perform the an- n . alytieal and other work required of me' by my instructions: Such a place having bceu procured, it was necessary to devote more than half of the. very limited time set apart for the work of this season to the furnishizlg and fitting up of such laboratory, procuring the requisit_ app_atus, and preparing the reagents and other materials required, in that state of perfect purity necessary to the performance of reliable analyses; so tht_t when I found myself prepped to commence work, from three to four weeks only of the :speCified period remained, _time altogether too short'for the performance of ' any extended chemical investigation• Operations wcrc commenced, ho_Vevcr, all at once, upon dx of the specimens collected by you, comprising four varieties of ealcarcous marls and two of c_carcous sintcrs, and although it has been found impossible to bring these analyses quite to a final close, yet by dint of constant application, an amount ef labor has been accomplished which could scarcely have been expected, not less than fifty-five qu_iatitative deter-

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 8O

minatious having been made, besides the .large amount of qualitative investigation necessary; and the results already obtained possess several wholly unexpercted and impo_'tant points of interest, which hold out high.promise of the value of more extended and thorough explorations and investigations of these abundant calciferous deposits. ' _y resul_ thus far obtained, are as follows: • . *q

I.A.

Marl, taken from the surface of a deposit found upon the estate of Isaac Bonnellj in' Montague Township, Sussex County. - I It presents the appearance.of a light gray pulverutent mass, principally made up of the debr_ of small _fresh-watsr shell_ and is mixed with radicles of grass or other roots, and a few small black specks of peaty matter. When heated upon a sheet of platinum, it blackens, smokes with:a .peaty odor, and .burns easily to a nearly whi_ ash, which exhibits a curious kind of repulsion for the platinum while hot, passing into a sort of spheroidal stute, and floating in the air, remaining in this condition for a long time, certainly after the expulsion of all volatile matter, and at a tomperaturc_too low/o cause evolution of carbonic acid, thus indicating the development of a true repu]sive force. After cooling, it is found caked together into a compact mass. These phenomena seem to me to bo pyroclectric. Wb.en heated in a close tube, glves off D;considerable quantity of water_ which is strongly ammoniacal, tegether with a tobacco-like odor (indicating the presence of ammonia-crenate of lime).* This order is very strong and per- sis.tent, tilting the whole laborutory with a smell precisely resembling that of an old foul tobacco pipe. At a stronger heat a quantity of tarry fnattsr distilled over. W'atsr boiled for a long time with the marl acquires a faintly yellowish tint, and

* Ber_eliu_as quoted in Loewig's "Chemie der arg_n_,_t_onVerbin_ x dungen," I. 485.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 81 an odor strongly resembling,that of a grlst-mill,remaining pcrfdctiyneutral in its reaction,and becomingatthe sametime exceedingly difficult to filter clear. Solutions of the marl in acidspossessa light amber color,and little or no smell. The ingredients of this marl,_ with the l?ercentagepropor- tionsthus far determined,arc-

* Some brief 1_emarksupon th0 methods used in these analyses will be in place here, although _'hen the analyses shall hereafter be presented in a complete form, minute descriptions of the methods will be given. The phosphoric acid was detected by the molybdate of ammonia reaction, and the same reaction used, according to the sSggcstion of Sonnensehein, in its quantitative determination, that i_ by precipitating it with molybdate of ammonia, redissolving the washed precipitate in ammonia, precipitating with sulphate of magnesia, and weighing as bibaslc phosphate of magnesia. This process seems to present more of tile elements of reliability, for determining phosphoric acid when present itz small quantities, than any other yel proposed, but i_ was nevertheless found that the considerable solubility of the yellow molybdie precipitate in the wash-water has a greater influence than has been supposed, and that the determinations made are therefore probably too low.. Obsen'ations were made, however, which induce the hope of so modifying the'method of 8on- neasehein, as to eliminate this source of errror, and thus.render it as accurate as it is convenient. Manganese, when present, was detected by Crurn's test, with nitric acid and ,2eutoxide of lead, the ddieaey and certainty of which cannot be too highly ap- preciated. The carbonic acid was determined by means of a small apparatus similar to that described in Rose's Handbuch, last edition, Volume IL, page 801. The amorplmussilica by boiling the substance with pure caustic soda solution for a long time in a platinum vessel, evaporating the filtered solution with an excess of ehlorohydrie acid, collecting the separated silica on a filter, washing, drying, burning, and weighing. .The portion of tile marls insoluble in chlorohydric acid was dried upon a weighed filter at 100 deg. C., weighed, mad afterwards burnt, and weighed again, the difference between the two weights being, of course, the insoluble organic substances present The organic acids soluble in ehlorohydric acid were determined together with the combined water, by the loss, except in the case of analyses IL B, in which the whole amount of water and organic matter was determined by burning a weighed portion of the marl as perfectly as possible, then restoring the lost carbonic acid by evaporating with carbonate of ammonia, drying arid weighing, the difference being, of comae, the whole percentage of volatile and combustible ingredients, from which, by deducting the organic matter in the insoluble portion deterndned as before, was obtained the sum of the organic matter in the soluble portion and th0 combined water. The hygroscopic wate'r was determined by drying at 100 deg. C., until the weight _as constant. 6

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEYt 8o_

1; Ingredients soluble in wa_el r Chloride of calcium, considerable. Chloride of sodium, Chloride of magnesium, } traces. Organic salts of.lime, such as amm0nia-cre- } natc, ammonia-apoerenate, and ammonia-hu-_ considerable. mate, ) 2. Ingredients soluble in chlorohydrie acid. Lime, 50.27 Correofl_m_spondlng,SgtonUarbonate Magnesia, . '0.,e2. Cco_r,e,prM_,_n_oo,dl_tf I_Xo Carbonic aeid_ 38.57

• OrganicCombinedacidswater_, ,t by loss. ' 4.10 "_ Sesquioxide &iron, with traces of , aluminaj . 0.45 Phosphate of lime,. 0.80 • 8] ,Ingredients insoluble in chlorohydrie acid. Amorphous sifica, mean of two . • determinations _ 0.43 Organic substances, including hu- mic acid I vegetable fibre, etc., 4.19 Hygroscopic water, 1.87 Nitrogen, undetermined. ,lO0.OO I.B.

'.k Marl from the same locality,, but taken from _ feet below the surface of the deposit.

Someofthe detBrminatlon_givenwill be.repeatedbeforethe completionof he investigation. " Itmay be wellto state that all filters usedby me, both in qualitativeand quantitative operations,havebeen previouslywashedwith"ehlorohydl'icacid andwateruntil perfectlypure. The'Swedish paper used in this ]nvestlgatlon ef_afterBuehtreatment_in a filter of ordinarysize,noappreciable ash. I will abe statethat the re-agentsused by me, are near]yeveryonepreparedby my ownhands,in a state ofperfectpurity, and marlyaccordingtoimprovedmethods not yet glvento the world. ILW.

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:Resembles I. A. in its appearancS, and in its behavior under the influence of heat in a 9ioso tube, and on platinum, except that it does not assume the spheroidal state, nor become caked together on cooling. Water boiled upon the marls acquires tho same color and odor as from I. A., andbecomes neither acid nor alkalino in its reaction. Solutions of the marl in dilute acids possess a daxk ambar color, and astrong smell of formic acid, indicating the presence of t m imperfectly known products of the decay of vegetable'tissue called ulmine, ulmio acid, etc. _[cating with a little excess o( nitric acid partly discharges the color. Tile ingredients of this variety are :-- 1. Soluble in water. Sulphate of lime, considerable. Ammolfia-humat_ of lime, ] Chloride of calcium, ' | " Chloride of magnesium, /_traces. Chloride of sodium, j 2. So]ublo in chlorobydric acid. Lime, 50.88 E_iu,e,_.97"i_°l_or,.¢,1_.,,,t,°"o_t Magnesia, with a trace of oxide

of manganese, 0.86 Equimagncvalentsia_ to0,76e_rpbona. te o! Carbonic aekt, 38.90 Combined water, Organic acids, } by loss. 4.34 Sesquioxide of ffon, with trace of alumina, 0.16 :Phosphate of lime, 0.66 3. Insoluble.in cl_lorohydric acid. Amorphous silica, 0.37 Organic substances, including hu- mic acid, decaycd vegetable fibre, etc., 3.54 Hygroscopic water, 1.29 _itrogen, undetermined.

100.00

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 84

On "examination and comparison of the results of these'two analyses, several considerations present themselves. In the first place_ the presence of soluble salts of lime is an unexpected result. It is unfortunate that time has n6t yet allowed determinations to be made of the quantit!es of these soluble salts which are present, but their pretence at all in appreciable fluautity is of much practical importance. It is in the form of soluble salts only, that lime can act directly ms an aliment of plants, that is, in this form only can it be takhn up by. their rootlets. ]i'arthcr investigation will probably indicate practi- cable means of increasing the production of these soluble salts, and of thus greatly'augmenting the vah_e of such marls as fertilizers. . Lime, however, is not the only ingredient -of importance indicated by the analyses. Nearly every other substance found to be present has more or less influence. 'The magnesia, oxide of iron, phosphate of lime, and amorphous silica arc all absolutely necessary constituents of all fertile soils_ while the organic acids, and other products of vcgctab_b decay, which appear to be preseflt in quite important quantity (six or seven per cent.), also contribute ihdirectly their influence. T!lc organic acids i esp6cia]Iy_ undoubtedly: act by forming compounds With lime, and other bases present, which are soluble ill the liquids of the soil, thus ncccssitating thcirintroduetion into the circulation of plants by the cndosmotie absorption of the roots ; and if the now mooted question, wMeh will p_'obably receive some discussion in ftlturc reports, whether the nitrogen of vegetable tissues be derived from ammonia or hot_ admits of an affirmative dccision_ the organic acids must also act indircetly_ though powerfully, by retaining the ammoniaproduced during the dcc_y of the animal matter of the shells, in a highly soluble form, and also by absorbing atmospheric.ammonia, or even, as indicated by" Muldcr,* through the development of .ammonia by the cgmbination of the nitrogen o:f the air with the hydrogen produced by their own deeomp0sigon. It will be

* As quoted in Loewig's "Chemic der Organischon Vorbindungen," i,, 474;

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 85

observed that the analyses indicate the presence of ammonia, derived undoubtedly from the decay of animal tissues, the proportions of which, however, have not yet been determined, " both from deficiency of time and want of the necessary appli- ances. The amorphous silica, whose presence is shown by the analyses, merits a few words of comment. It is the ingredient in soils which furnishes to many plants, especially to the cereals, such as corn, wheat, etc., the silica, _vhich is absolutely necessary to the formation of their stalk or stem. Silica, which is the most abundant of all mineral substance% forroing certainly more than one h.'df of the mass of the _arth, so far as the latter is known, occurs in soils in three different forms ; first, in the erysta]line form_ as quart% sand, etc., in which form it is wholly insoluble, and may be considered inert, so far as the nutrition of plants is concerned ; secondly, in combination, in fragments of'feldspar, hernblend% and other sili- cates, in which it is also comparatively inhctivc ; and. thirdly, as amorphous or solvablesilica, or o2al, as it is called by miner- Megist% the only form of much importance in agriculture, since in this form it is soluble in the liquids of the soil. Far too little attention has been paid in analyses of soils and" fcr- tili2ing minerals to their content of opal or soluble silic% whereas a soil may be rich in every other necessary ingre- dientj and yet, if deficient in this respect, be perfectly sterile for many crops ; a remark which may indeed be made with reference to each and. every one of the soil-constituents which arc rcquired to the building up of vegetable structures ; these substances bearing precisely the same relation to the plant as the miner.q1 ingredients of the bones do to the animal, or as the constituents of the shells do to the egg, beitag coast- • qucntly just as absolutely indispensable in the one ease as in the other. • This subject of the alimcntation of plants will of course bc repeatedly resumed in future report% based, it is hoped, upon far more extended investigations of fertilizing material% as well as of soils, than this one ' and it is not, therefore, considered

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 86

advisable to enter upon any extende'd discussion of the sub- . jeet at present. Two reliable analyses," however, of the groin • and straw of wheat, made by Weber, in the laboratory, and according to the method, of H. Rosc, "_will be quoted here, in 0 order to furnish an idea of the minerM ingredients whose presence in the soil is necessary to th'e_nutrition of that grain.

• In Ih0 grain. Ill the straw, Percentage of ashes found .1.28 3.82 Constituents of ash. Potash, 23.1'8. 0.68 Soda, : 3.09 "' Lime, . . 3.28 _' 6.93 " Magnesia, . , 11.75 1.69 Sesquioxide of iron, 1.11 0.99 Sulphurie acid, . 0.74 Amorphous silica, 1.18 67.90 Phosphoric acid, . . 46:36 5.05 Chloride of pot._sium, 15.13 Chloride ot" sodium, 1().00 0.89

100.00 t00.00

One of the many prominent points of interest here presented, i_ the large ctuantity of silica foand in the wheat straw, (sixty-eight per cent.), insomuch the.t;, the whole content of ash in the straw being 3.82 per .cent., a simple calculation shows that a ton of such straw would contain more than fifty pounds of silica, and would require more than six tons of the marl I. A. to satisfy it with this element in its nutrition. So _liat upon a s'oil already deficient in amorphous silica, such marl, unless applied in a very large quantity_ would not furnish it in the requisite proportion. Weber's analyses show also other ingredients in the wheat ashes, which d,o not exist in the marl, showing very clearly that a farmer who should at- _.empt to restore exhausted wheatlands by the use of such a umrl alone, would stand several chances Of disappointment _

* Liebig & Kopp's Jahi'esberi_ht_ fiil. 18491 p. 656. '

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY S7 from the deficiency in the soil of necessary ingredients, unknown to him, which arc not contained in the mar]. These considerations illustrate how analyses of soils, when properly executed, as very few, it; may be ssserted, have been, may be of very high value to the agriculturist. A compai'ison of the results of the two marl analyscs, in consideration of the different depths from which they were taken, is interesting, and will be more .so, when determinations of the quantities of the several soluble salts and of the nitrogen shall have been obtained. The main differences between the two are in the nature of the soluble mineral ingredients, which, in the 'surface-marl .I.A., are,principally chlorides, and in that, from the io:_verpart of the deposit 2. B._ principally sulphates; and. m the organic matter, which, in the surt:ace-marl, has been more altered by the action of atmospheric oxygen. More extended investigation in this direction will und(mbtedly dcvclope important practical results as to the selection of the marl, and its treatment preliminary to use. Another result of the above analyses' of Mr. BonnelPs marl, worthy of attention_ is the large proportion of carbonate of lime which ifcontains, very few of the ordinary calcareous marls being equally rich in this ingredient. In fact_ after deducting the water and organic matter, both of which would be expelled in burning it for lime, it contains about ninety-nine per cent. of pur_ carhonate of lime, and would undoubtedly burn into a very pure .and excellent lime for building, and all other purposes.'

IX. A.

A grayish mar]_taken from four feet below the surface of a deposit on the land of Isaac Colcs_Montague Township_ Sussex County. A qualitative examination only of this marl has yet been attempted. It appears to resemble II. B. in every respect, cx-

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 88 eept in containing much less phosphori 9 acid, ,sesquioxide of iron and alumina_ and more vegetable remains.

II.B.

A dark gray marl, from the same locality as II. A., but taken from eight feet belo_;¢ the surface. When heated in a close tube, it behaves, in every respect, precisely like I. A. ; also when heated upon platinum, a re- pulsive force for the metal, being developed as in the case of I.A. The ignited marl evolves with ehlorohydrie acid a fcetid smell of sulphohydrie acid_ and with acetate of lead paper a strong reaction of the same is obtained. This w_ at first attributed to the presence in the charred mass of sulphide of calcium, proceeding from deoxidation of the considerable quantity &sulphate of lime found in the marl by the organic matter during the ignition, but it w_ found that tile 'same evolution of sulphohydric acid took place from the "substance when charred after complete removal of all traces of su]phates by long washing with water. It could therefore arise only from the presence of sulphide of iron, and as no traces of sulphohydric _cid could be obtained from the unlgnitad mar], bisulphide of iron, or iron T_jri_s_ must be the ingredient in question_ being converted into protosulphide by the ignition. Water boiled with this marl acquires a yellowish color, .and a strong smell like that in I. A., but also resembling some kinds of stagnant vegetable m:ud, remaining_ however, I_er- fecfly neutral in reaction. Acid solutions have a light amber coloi; and smell somewhat of formic acid. Its ingredients are as follows : 1. Soluble in water. Sulphate of lime, large.

AAmmonia-apoercnatemmonia-erenato of lime,of lime, } small. Chloride of sodium, considerable.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY I 89

Chloride of magnesium, _ Chloride of iron, , traces• 2. Soluble in chlorohydrie acid.

Lime, • 9.71 e_p_.dl.of lime, 17._ pe,or _bon.t,CCnL. Correspo_dir1_ to c_rbonale }ffsgnesia, . 0.42 of m_,e_i_,z._ perc_nt. Carbonic acid, .... 7.25 Combined water, l by direct de- Organic acids, } termination, 3.19 Sesqnioxide of iron, mean of two- determinations 2 . . ,1.28 Alumina, mean of two determinations, . 2.12 Phosphate of lime, . . . 0.80 3. Insoluble in ehlorohydrio acid.. Amorphous silica, 1:21 Organic matter, humus, decaycd vegetable tissues, etc., 5.52' Coarse sand i with debris of ] minerals containing silica, alumina, oxide of iron, and 66.57 magnesia, which may be considered as inert matter Iron pyrites, Hy_oscopie water, 2.08' Nitrogen, undetermined.

100.25 A most remarkable and wholly unexpected result &this analysis is the detection of @on pyrites in the marl, and from tim fitet of finding'it also in another of the marls whose analysis is given below, thc presumption would seem to be, that it is probably present in many of these deposits• Farther examinations will decide this point. In the mean time, its presence in these two marls can only be looked upon as highly favorable to their availability as fertilizers. From the presence of an excess of carbonate of lime, it is impossible that any of the pr?tosulphate of iron, formed by the

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY W

oxidation which iron pyrites_ in the form in which it occurs in thesc marls, undergoes off exposure to the air, and which' might be injurious to the soil, should exist in the mass without bein_ immediately decomposed, with the formation of the powerful fertilizer, sulphate of lime,, or gypsum. And that this action is continually going on in tbc mass, is indicated by the large quantity of sulphate of limo actually found in the aqueous solution. It may be said with e.ertainty, with regard to such marls as these, that the longer they are exposed to the open air, in a moist state befoi'e use, the more powerfully fertilizing they will become. So that an important point as to the preliminary treatment of these m_ls is thus already deft- nitely decided by. these brief investigations. The origin of the iron pyrites in these deposits is a very'cffrious qucstion, and, in fact, the whole subject is one of great interest, and will amply repay fuller investigation. The presence of the iron pyrites was discovered at too late a day to admit of any at- ' tempt at determination of its quantity. The quantity of carbonate of limo in this mar], as also in the one next described, is small, but on accotint of the presence of the sulphide of iron, and the continual formation of gypsum, which must consequently take place on exposure to the atmosphere, they will, in all probability,, be found fully equal, if not much superior, in power, to the marl first described, although they will not be nearly so lasting in their action. The other ingredients of this marl are not without importance, the proportions of amorphous silica and' phosphate of lime_ for example_ being much greater than in the marl lqo. L

HI.

Marl from the land of Isaiah Vannetten_ Montague Town- ship, Sussex County_ taken from four feet below the surface of the deposit. A very dark colored, moist, peaty mass, Containing remains

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 93

organic matter in the subsiance. Water boiled with it evolves an odor like that of moist chalk, acquires no perceptible color or reaction, but dissolves salts of lime in appreciable quantities. Acid solutions have a light amber color and no smell. The contents are : 1. Of the solution in water. Chloride of calcium, considerable.

Ammmfia-apcorcnate of lime, Chloride of sodium, traces. ChlorideAmmonia-crenateof magnesium,and } 2. Of the solution in chlbrohydrio acid.

Lime, 54.57 atoCk'rre'of_na,ndln_l.44.tc°a_bon- l_[agnesia, trace. Carbonic acid, 42.57 • Scsquioxidc of iron, 0.87 Phosphate of lime, 0.22 Organic acids, _ undeter- Combil_ed water, { mined. 3. Of tile insoluble residue. Amorphous silica, 1.00 Organic matter (humie acid), 0.17 Hygroscopic water, 0.32 99.22 An analysis of a calcareous sinter, from this same lcoality, is given by Prof. Rogers in his report, page 109, where he describes it under the name of traverffn. The results do not differ much from mine, except that no detection or determination of the important ingredient, amorphous silica, was cffeeted. The presence of phosphate of lime also was not noticed by Prof. Rogers, owing to the entire want, at that time_ of any method of detecting this highly valuable ingredient with certainty, except when present in large quantity. The specimen analyzed by :Prof. Rogers also does not seem to have been of equal purity with mine, his analysis indicating but 93.53 per cent. of carbonate of lime, while mine gives 97.44 per cent. • The considerable quantity of chloride of calcium (also not

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

L /

94 observed by Prof. Rogers), which is_indicated by my analysis, is a very interesting fact. It is to be regretted that a specimen of the water from which this calcareous deposit was formed, was not also collected, in order that its composition might be compared with that of the deposit itself. Farther remarks upon the presence of the chloride of calcium are reserved until this can be done, and also a determination made of the amount of this salt contained iu the mineral. As remarked by Prof. Rogers, this calcareous sinter should give, when burnt, a very white and goodlime.

Calcareous sinter from the farm of Benjamin P. Van Sickles, Petersville, Sandisten Township, Sussex County. Stalactitic in its structure, and contains small pebbles of quartz and sandstone. When heated upon platinum, i_ presents the same curious phcnomenon of repulsion as I.A. The presence of organic matter was indicated by a brown color of the residue left after solution of the ignited substance in chlorohydric acid, which brown color disappeared before the blow- pipe. The solution formcd by boiling water with the pulverized substance has a smell like moist chalk, no color or alkaline reaction, m_d contains much chloride of calcium and other chlorides. Acid solutions have no smell, _.nd little or no color. 1, Solution in water contains : Chloride of calcium_ considerable. Chloride of sodium, }

ChlorideOrganic saltsof magnesium,of lime. t traces. 2. Solution in chlorohydrio acid : Lime, 43.68 c_rh,,,,Corresp0ndllme,ll_ _..ol.to Corresp'n I0 curb. Magnesia_ 0.14 of magnq_la, O.'Zg. Carbonic acid, 34.44 Scsquioxide of iron, with trace of a]nrnlua_ 0.80 Phosphate of lime, 0,43

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 95

CombinedOrganic acids,water, 1 'undetermined. 8. Insoluble residue : Amorphous silica, 0.38 Organic matter, 0.20 Inert matter, consisting of silica, with traces of oxido of iron, alumina 'and magnesia, 19.39 _ygroscopie water, 0.36

99.82 Work has been commenced also upon some other minerals_ comprising some limestones and marbles_ but the results are not complete cnough to possess much interest_ and I shall not therefore present them at present. I am_ Very respeetfully_ HENRY WURTZ, _w Jersey Star8 G_emist7Mincraloglatand MetaZlurgist.

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY REPORT

OF EGBERT L. VIELR, TOPOGRAPHIGAL ENGINEERI

HAVING been intrusted in June last with the duty of preparing a reliable map of the State, upon Which could be accurately delincatcd the results of the geologic'el explorations_ it became my first care to determine the most feasible; and_ at the same time most economical method which could be pursued in prosecuting thc undertaking. To this end, an examination was made of the records and maps deposited in different county seats, and also those on file at the State capital. ]_rom these no information could be obtained beyond that which is laid down on an existing map of the State, which map is merely a compilation from those rccords_ showing the principal towns and roads, but exhibiting no reliable physical features, so important to the proper exposition of geological formations. Under these circumstances it was evident that an actual survey alone could furnish the map required. A plan based upon the extension of the coa._t survey over the State was submitted to the Governor, and discussed by several of the most eminent men in the State, then attending a session of the supreme court at Trenton. It was conceded to be the most judicious plan that could be followed, and adopted by the Governor as being the only one which would give to the State such a map as its geographical position and its great mineral wealth required. The method pursued in a survey of' this nature is as follows : A line from three to t_n miles in length is measured with

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY __

'.". j \ _,

/ - , p" \ \ ,

I ...... i ......

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY " l

the greatest care and accuracy upon a plain as nearIy level _s can be found. This is called a bc_e lble_from each extremity of which, by means of a theodollte_ the angles are measurcd_ which are included between several prominent surrounding objects previously selected as trigonometrical points. _'rom each of those points the angles are measured between the lines joining the points and the extremities of the base line. There is thus formed a series of triangles, from the known parts of wllieh the unknown are determined by calculation, and we thus ascertain the length of the sides of the triangles'or the distafices between the trigonometrical points, l.i'rom these sides as bases othm" trlgonmnetrieal points are determined_ until the entire tr,'mt of country to be surveyed is covered over with a network of triangles, of as large a size as is consistent wltla the nmans employed. This is called a primary triangulation, within which a series of secondary triangles is formed in the same manner. The interior details between the secondary points are filled in by moans of the plane-table. These dctails consist of the contour lines of the elevations, or horizontal sections of the hills, taken at cqui-distant intervals---the direction and sinuosities of .the ivater courses ; the houses, roads_ farm lines, etc. Obsei'vations for latitude and longitude axe made at several of the most conspicuous stations, from which the geographical position of all the points can be dctermined_ and their places projected on the map with extreme accuracy. For the purpose of the Geodetic Survey, the coast of the United States has been divided into eleven sections, in each of which a base line of from five to ten miles is measured. The co,'_st of New Jersey is included in the second of these sections_ the base of which is on Fire Island. The primary triangulation cxtends across the State from Amboy to 'I_rcnton_ and dowu the Delaware River. The secondary triangulation follows the same course, and also extends along the whole coast.. About two thousand square miles of topo_aphy have been completed, based on this triangulation. Observations for latitude and azimuth have been made at a number of stations of the primary triangulations. The difference of latitude, 7

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY F 1

longitude_ and azimuth, between these and the oth(_rstatlons have been compilcd_and the results published in tabular form_ giving the names of the several stations or triangulation points,. the latitude and longitude of each station_ and the distances between the several stations. The course to be pursued in completing the survey of the State is a very plain one : simply to begin where the coast survey lef_ off, carry out the triangulation, and fill in the topography. Half the labor and expense of the undertaking is saved to us, by what has already, been accomplished. The records of the work done are complete for every Step of progress_ and a monument of some kind marks every triangulation point. Had the appropriation of last year been suffi- cient_ operations would have been commenced on a side of the coast survey primary triangulation as a base, and th_ topographical parties would have worked from the centre of the State to the north and south simultaneously. Under the cir- eumstanecs_ howover_ it was deemed most judicious to show as much topographical and geological dovelopmefit as possible, in the short time that would elapse before tl_ meeting of the Legislature_ in order that the whole subject might be presented in a clear light. To this end, the boundary line between :New York and :New Jersey _i,asselected as the base of operations_ on the supposition that this line, having been laid down by a joint commission, 6ffered a well-defined base line. Time_how- over_ and individual carelessness, had served to obliterate or destroy every vestige from' the Delaware to the Blue Moun- tains ; even the initial point was wanting. A_ serious delay occurred in re-establishing this line so far as the records that cauld be obtained enabled it to be done. The line determined on coincided with the one formerly regarded as tl]e boundary line in the division of property bordering upon it; although_ during the last few years_ it had been shifted to one side or the other, according to the ideas of the local surveyors. Hav- ing established a starting point_ levelling for a geological section was commenced along the boundary line, and a base for topography was measured in the township of Montague. The'

NEW JERSEY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 99

prinelpal points were established by a reoonnoissance, in order that the topography might be checked by a secondary triangulation when a theodolite could be procured. A second base line was afterwards measured in the township of Wantage, and the same eours6 pursued as in Montagne, and so on for all the townships that were surveyed. But one plane-table was in use until September, when one was borrowed from the Coast Sur" vey, and afterwards a theodolite from the same source. From the beginning of the _ork, Professor Baehe, the Superintendent of that Survey, has tal_cn a cordial interest in its progress, and expressed a willingness to aid it by any means in his power. A summary of the operations of the past season is as follows:--The party entered the field on the eleventh of July, consisting of three principal assistants, aided" by four volunteers, who gave their services in return for learning engineering. Three more assistants were added when the instruments were received from the Coast Survey. On the 30th of No. vember the field operations were brought to a close. During . that period, the parties completed three hundred and sixty-one miles of tbpography, (being three fourths of the county of Sussex,) and seven hundred miles of levelling for geological sections, besides many minor details. In consequence of the late period at which the theodolite Was received, and the inadequacy of the means, the complete triangallation of the county was not accomplished, but enough was done to test the general accuracy of the topography. A sketch of this accom- panies the report. Since the parties left the field, a sufficient length of time has not elapsed to complete in the office all of the work which has been done, but so much as may be mapped at the time the subject occupies the attention of the Legisla- ture, will be forwarded to Trenton for inspection. The scale upon which it is' proposed to execute the map, is 1-80,000, the same as the published maps of the Coast Survey, and as the topographical map of France. This is somewhat less than one inch to the mile, which is the scale of the ordnance map of England. The scale proposed for the county maps is 1-80,000, or about two inches to the mile.

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It might appear almost superfluo_ to enlarge upon the nature and importance of this work, considered wi;_h reference to the intrinsic value of a topographical map of the State. The great aItention which has been given in this country, during the last few years, to the study of'physical gco'graphy, and the rapid strides of cducation and i.ntelligcnce, has created a demand for something morn than mere guide malSS of tbe different States of the Union. The National Legislature_ true to the impulse of the times, has nobly responded to the efforts of science--hundreds of thousands of dollam have been freely expended in exploring and preparing charts of the seaboard. .h. network of triangles c9vers the coast from Maine to Tcxa._-- minute soundings have brought to light the hidden rock and treaehcrous shoal. The capacities of the inlets, rivers , and harbors o[ the Atlantic coast have been determined, and a basis of accurate survey cstablishcd, which the States bordering on the ocean are invited to take advantage of, arid continue this great work, so that the States adjoining them may take it up and eongnue it on until it meets a corrcsponding cfibrt from the Pacific side. Thus giving to the country and to tbe world what England commenced a hundred years ago--what ]h'ancc, Italy, Austria, Norway, and Sweden and Russia, have spent millions to obtain, viz:_A correct topographical map, from which future generations may learn the nature and extent of the vast resoumes, developed and undeveloped, of this favored land• Under the auspices of an enlightened legislation, the State of New Jersey has been the first in the Union to commence this undertaking on purely correct principles. Its completion will be an era in her history, and a lasting monument of the intelligence of her pcop!e. EGBERT L. VIELE, Ybpographicall'_gi_leer. DR. WILLIAm[ KITCIIELL, State Geologistand Sul_erint_2d_lt.

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